Ash and Petals
by electric gurrl
Summary: AU. Revenge is a dish best served flaming hot and electric blue. One year after her victory during Sozin's Comet, a violent betrayal reduces broken and unstable Fire Lord Azula to ashes. But like the phoenix she rises, and with her rekindled romance and a fiery group of unlikely allies, she will take what is hers with blood and fire. Tyzula.
1. Honey, You're a Shipwreck

Some** Quick Facts About This Fic:**

**Chapters: **35 & an epilogue. It's completely finished and well over 100k words.

**Pairing: **Ty Lee / Azula. It is extremely Tyzula-centric,_ but_ there is plot unrelated to romance that drives the story.

**Rated:** M for lesbian lemons, bending related violence, very strong non-consensual incest (only one brief description of the sexual acts, but many allusions), strong implications of rape, sexual coercion, implied torture and descriptions of injuries from torture, coarse language & dark themes. It has some not depressing stuff too, I swear.

**Trigger Warning:  
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I've opted to put a more comprehensive trigger warning on this fic, because it is considerably darker than the rest of my work. And people have expressed shock at that fact.

This fic is about **love, friendship, forgiveness, redemption, regret and coming of age**.

_But _it is categorized in the rape & revenge genre (ex. Kill Bill, American Mary, I Spit on Your Grave). It follows the three act structure and much of the formula and tropes of the genre. Therefore, unsurprisingly, it has a strong focus on rape. Azula's motivation is flaming hot electric blue vengeance on a terrible man, with her lover and some unlikely allies.

_However_, this isn't a glamorization. I wrote this while I was going through a lot of therapy for my PTSD, and I channeled a lot of my pain into it. But with that, came learning how to cope with pain and to channel desire for revenge and loathing into a healthier place. This _is _an Azula redemption fic, just with a twist, and a little more action thrown in.

* * *

><p><strong>Ash and Petals<strong>

* * *

><p><em>This is the start of how it all ends<em>  
><em> They used to shout my name, now they whisper it<em>  
><em>"Yellow Flicker Beat" - Lorde<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Act One: Rendered to Ashes<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter One: Honey, You're a Shipwreck<p>

* * *

><p>"Is she ready?" demands Fire Lord Azula.<p>

Her purring tone is slightly dampened by her surroundings. She seems deeply contemplative and nearly hesitant as she enters the Boiling Rock. The walls of the prison jut up around her, shadowy corners giving her an aching sense of paranoia. Around any corner could be someone with a vendetta, but it is not exactly Fire Lord protocol to cavort about with her fingers ablaze. So she walks, with soldiers at her side, towards one of the multitude of interrogation rooms.

"She is," says the warden, a youth around twenty named Kazou. He was the son of one of Azula's fathers advisors, and a man who still advises her, though she finds it unwelcome. Fire Lord Azula operates alone; she does not play nicely with others. The executions and banishments are a testament to that.

"And what I asked for?" Azula stands in front of the door. She feels her fingers start to tremble and silences them with a few controlled breaths.

"It's there for you." Kazou bows melodramatically as he opens the door. Azula purses her lips and walks inside. It takes a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim lights, but she sees the girl she was waiting for. Her heart speeds up, but with the trained breath of a prodigious firebender, her pulse slows.

"Happy birthday," Azula says softly. The prisoner blinks several times with her protuberant eyes. "It _is _your birthday, isn't it, Ty Lee?"

Ty Lee sits in an uncomfortable, dark chair. It is bloodstained, which makes her stomach twist. Her wrists are shackled to it so tightly it cuts off her circulation; she attacked too many guards over the past year to not be handcuffed. Her ankles are also shackled and her body is forced into an awkward position by the chains. Her pretty pink clothes are replaced by red rags.

"Thank you, princess," Ty Lee replies, her tone a small, chiming squeak.

"It's not princess anymore." Cold. Ty Lee squirms slightly.

"Congratulations," Ty Lee offers. Her eyes glitter in the lamplight. She eyes Azula with a palpitating heart; there is no good reason for the Fire Lord to be here. "Youngest Fire Lord in history, right? And only the third woman."

"You paid more attention in school than I thought," Azula purrs with a small shrug. "I'm sure you're anxiously wondering why I'm here."

Ty Lee nods. "I'm glad to see─"

"_Don't _lie to me." Azula walks over to a table meant to hold instruments of torture. Crude and barbaric when a little azure flame can go much further. She fondly recalls Mai's propensity for knives, but she does not plan on ever seeing the face of the traitor again. Well... after today, of course.

Ty Lee's heart races, gut fluttering. She half-expects Azula to return with a hammer and start crushing bones, but all she has is a glass of water.

"Would you like this?" Azula offers icily, holding it out. Ty Lee is incapable of movement but she hesitantly shakes her head. Azula frowns. Wrong answer. Azula turns to the soldiers and Kazou. "Leave us."

They instantly obey. Azula sips the water and finds it unpleasant, but she does not reveal her distaste.

"It's been a long time. You look nice," Ty Lee says, examining the Fire Lord closely. Her armor caresses her form, but she looks too thin. The new crown is elegant, yet a few strands of hair hang loose, which she would have never allowed to happen before. But Ty Lee supposes running a nation is stressful, particularly with General Iroh and his forces in the Earth Kingdom. The war is just beginning for the sixteen year old Fire Lord.

"Are we really going to exchange pleasantries?" Azula demands scathingly. There is something about her eyes that Ty Lee does not like. They glitter like a tiger-monkey trapped in a cage, watching its captor, pacing around waiting for the opportune moment to strike. "I need your help."

_Déjà vu_. Ty Lee recalls Azula coming to the circus after a year they spent apart. It is very much like today, but also very different. And neither of them can figure out exactly what changed.

"What do you need?" Ty Lee asks quietly. She does not like where this is going.

"I want you to join me on one last mission." Shock in Ty Lee's eyes. Azula finishes the water and drops the glass on the floor. It shatters and she grinds it into the damp stone with her shoe. "The Avatar killed my father, and then ran away like a coward. I'm going to find him. And I'm going to get revenge."

"What do I get out of this?" Ty Lee asks, hoping Azula will not be angry. But the Fire Lord laughs.

"As selfish as ever. You get your freedom. If you help me with this mission, when it's over, we can part ways. You'll have my forgiveness and you can make a life for yourself. I assure you that it's preferable to this place," Azula says smoothly and Ty Lee swallows. She wishes she had accepted the water..

"I will." Ty Lee squeezes her eyes shut.

* * *

><p><strong>One Year Ago<strong>

Katara fights against the guards until one jabs a dart into her neck. She takes a deep breath as she feels sedation wash over her. Her eyes are still open, but she cannot move her limbs. They forcibly removed her wet clothes, and she is half naked as she is dragged to the Broiling Rock. As they approach the water, she fights to move it, to free herself, but the drugs are too powerful.

Aang is okay. She heard them talking about how he disappeared and Ozai was defeated. Of course, now the Fire Lord is a lunatic who killed her own brother with a bolt of lightning, right in front of Katara's eyes, but Aang is okay, and Katara believes he can save the world. Sokka, Suki and Toph succeeded as well. But she has no idea what became of them, and that terrifies her. She has heard no news on Ba Sing Se.

Only she was defeated. Only she moved for a strike with too much force and was taken down. The pain of the burn has faded with the sedation, but it covers most of her abdomen. She crumbled from the pain, and Azula took her chance and used it. But why she did not kill Katara is baffling. She had her chance, but instead, she summoned soldiers and moved to Zuko. Whispered something to him as Katara was dragged away, grabbing water from plants and trying to use it, but being jabbed in the neck by something that stole her voice and her bending. This is her fourth dose.

She is tossed in a cell, and can feel her ribs bruising as the stone floor sears her burn. Her eyes flutter closed, and the last image behind her eyes is of Zuko's act of sacrifice.

In the morning, Mai wakes up with a sore back.

"We could both fit in that bed," she mutters, but Ty Lee is not listening. She is still sleeping like a baby moose-lion. Mai envies her momentarily, but slowly stands up and stretches.

The door suddenly opens. Mai moves into a fighting stance.

"Assembly of prisoners," barks the guard. He reaches for Mai's arm and she shrugs him off. She and Ty Lee are ushered into the yard, glancing at prisoners. As Mai passes one of the cells, she sees that it is still closed.

Ty Lee, not caring about her life remotely, peers through the window.

"Look, Mai, look; it's the water peasant girl." Bad sign. Very, _very _bad sign.

Mai sits in the back of the yard, Ty Lee at her side. The Kyoshi warriors Ty Lee have already befriended sit beside them. Mai does not like them, but she tolerates their presence. All she can think is that, if the waterbender is imprisoned here, Zuko... The comet... She presses her lips together and tries not to think about it.

And so the warden Kazou makes a melodramatic speech. He can't be much older than Mai but he is a harsher replacement than her uncle. He thinks too highly of himself and Mai would like to knock him down a few notches. Ty Lee is chewing on her fingernails as he explains that the Avatar and Fire Lord Ozai both disappeared, presumably dead, and Mai bats her hand away, muttering, "nasty habit," as she waits for news of Zuko.

"And Prince Zuko the traitor was killed when he tried to steal the throne from Fire Lord Azula."

Mai nearly throws up. This was all worth _nothing_. She didn't want to imagine a world without Zuko in it, and now she is forced to. Ty Lee grabs her by the hair and presses their bodies together in a tight hug. Mai does not even scold her; she almost needs to be held.

Her heart palpitates; she cannot hear the rest of the information, something about the Earth Kingdom uniting and building a military stronghold in Ba Sing Se. But all she can think about is losing Zuko. It's... unfathomable. Her face does not move, but inside she is screaming and thrashing.

_"I know one thing I care about. You." The beach. Zuko. Love._

As Mai stands up, half dragged by Ty Lee, she is suddenly seized by two guards. They handle her roughly.

"Don't fuck with me," she says, but they do not listen.

"Your _lodgings _have been reassigned. Executive order from the Fire Lord," one of the guards says, his face partially obscured by his helmet. He and his companion drag her to the room where Ty Lee pointed out the Water Tribe girl. Mai is thrown inside, landing on her knees. The door shuts and locks loudly behind her.

Mai examines her closely. She sees herself throwing knives in Omashu as the Water Tribe girl saved herself with a quick slice of the wood. She sees herself pursuing her all night and fighting her in the Earth Kingdom woods. And now she sees her slowly opening her big cobalt eyes.

"Who put you here?" she asks, clearly uninformed by Zuko and her brother. Or maybe just too drugged up to remember.

"The Fire Lord," Mai says dryly, standing up. She sits on the bed opposite the Water Tribe girl. "What's your name?"

Katara frowns. She knew all three of their names: Ty Lee, Mai and Azula. Katara's heart thumps at the thought of Princess Azula, now presumably promoted.

"Katara. But you should know it by now."

"I never associated with peasants," Mai replies, a certain bitterness in her tone. "So, why did they relocate me here?"

Silence. Katara seems to contemplate it. Her lips are slightly parted and eyes slightly dazed from whatever flows through her veins. It clearly strips her of her waterbending and dulls her thoughts. But Mai sits patiently; she has nothing else better to do.

"I'm sorry about Zuko. It's my fault. The lightning was coming at me," Katara says and Mai clenches her jaw. "We fought and... I lost and I couldn't get to him in time. I'm sorry. I'm... sorry."

She crumbles slightly. Her big cobalt eyes blossom with tears and Mai swallows, unsure what to say.

"It's not your fault," Mai says, though she is mentally throttling the water peasant. They sit in absolute silence after that.

In the Fire Nation Capitol, Azula sits on the throne, back straight, stiff upper lip. She must look strong to lead her Nation. But the advisors and generals are discussing the presumed death of her father. She feels weak. The instability has not ceased as she still wakes screaming from nightmares and trembles and can only think about the past month and how it is hollowed her out inside.

At least she won. They all lost but her. Azula stands victorious. But without anyone or anything she ever cared about. All she has is an empty crown.

"Where's the body?" Azula demands, the azure flames growing. The Admiral of the Sixth Fleet is blinded momentarily by blue. He finds it abnormal to be serving a girl he last saw as a child. She is fourteen, almost fifteen, and she has more force and more cruelty than her father.

No one is yet used to the eerie blue glow of the throne room.

"We're searching, your highness," the Admiral of the Sixth Fleet says, bowing his head. "We went to the last known location and searched the crashed airships, we have soldiers moving through what parts of the Earth Kingdom General Iroh will allow, and there's no trace of the Avatar of Former Fire Lord Ozai."

"I need a moment." The flames die out. "When I get back, I _best _have some answers, or I'll be forced to make an example of someone. Enjoy your recess."

Azula walks out of the throne room, leaving shocked generals behind. She wraps her arms around herself and walks towards the courtyard. It is close to the throne room, and she finds herself alone. The entire palace is to herself now, and when she thought she was lonely with her father, she could not have predicted what it feels like to be entirely by herself.

Lightning. She plays with it on her fingertips, clearing her thoughts. Everything goes away as she dances through the forms, guiding the surging electricity through her body. Finally, she feels collected, like she will not break down crying in front of her subordinates.

She drops her arms and stands for a moment, breathing in the tendrils of sunlight. She is the most powerful firebender who ever lived. That is something she has always known, but only now understands. Because she is the last one left.

_"Do you really believe that we'll win this war?" Ty Lee says, sitting up and crawling close to Azula. _

_ "Of course I do. I always win," Azula says softly, not sure where this night is going. She thinks of the kiss that should not have been. The dance of sexual craving and odd romance that permeates what once was platonic._

_ "Your confidence is inspiring. When you say it... I guess I believe too. Or maybe I believe that you believe. And... I guess that's good enough," Ty Lee says, and Azula does not see the fear in her eyes. "What if these are our last moments?"_

_ "We've beat them time and time again. And we're going to burn it all to the ground anyway. That comet, I mean, these aren't our last days─"_

_ Azula's monologue is cut off by Ty Lee kissing her._

Azula trembles slightly. The memory pains her.

She thinks of the repercussions she faced and how they screwed her. Of the ashes on the floor of her room replaced with fresh new items so her father could pretend he didn't lash out. So when he was done with her, leaving her naked on her bed with bruises on her neck, he could pretend he was the compassionate father of the future Fire Lord.

Everybody fucks Azula over. And now she has to run an entire Nation.

Strangely, she misses the two people who have scorned her most in her life.

The blue flames of the throne feel wrong without her father and Ty Lee.

She walks back inside, taking a deep breath, her posture straight, and the generals and advisors whispering to each other.

"We have a proposition."

"That's what I like to hear," Fire Lord Azula purrs.

The throne room illuminates in cerulean.

In Ba Sing Se, Suki runs through the barricades. She carries a letter to General Iroh and Sokka, the duo in charge of the Earth Kingdom's new army. The soldiers greet her, in surprisingly good moods despite the Fire Nation's erratic attempts to invade.

_"Azula is a competent enemy," Iroh says to Suki, Sokka and Toph. "She will always be several steps ahead. I will not lie to you when I say that she is more deadly than my brother. But we will use every advantage to try to save the Earth Kingdom."_

She now carries a letter from the Earth Kingdom cities to the East. Some of them still cling to life, though the Fire Nation is regaining lost ground. Almost everything Sokka, Suki and Toph did feels wasted, but Iroh and his friends are the only thing that kept the Fire Nation from victory.

Walking in, she sees Iroh, Sokka and Toph deep in discussion with a general. Suki hands them the letter, and tries to catch up on the conversation.

In the middle of a broiling lake, Mai and Katara exit their cell for the first time in days. They were confined there as others were allowed out around them. And they caught up; Katara explained Zuko's last few weeks. Mai did not cry, did not show emotion, but she felt broken inside.

And grateful to Katara for understanding. She thought Ty Lee was crazy for making friends in prison, but Mai thinks that, if Katara were not from the Water Tribe, she could have been friends with the Terrible Trio. A strong woman with ferocity and wit would have fit in just fine if she could take Azula's bullshit.

"Don't talk to me, Mai," Ty Lee says as they approach. She looks angry, but is smiling. "We're going to keep to ourselves." She gestures at the girls around her.

"What did I do?" Mai sighs, frustrated.

"You _ruined my life_," Ty Lee says, laughing mirthlessly. She looks about to snap in half from forced sweetness. "Nothing major."

"How did I ruin your life?" Mai says, supporting the stumbling and drugged Katara. She watched the guards sedate Katara repeatedly, and it made Mai queasy. But she did not make a move to stop them. It did not feel worth it.

"Zuko is dead. You saved his life and _screwed us both_," Ty Lee says and Mai is stunned speechless. She thought that Ty Lee supported her. Why else would she betray Azula? It wasn't a _fickle _thing but of course the _circus freak _treated it like it was nothing. Not the life of a human being at stake.

"She was going to _kill me_." Mai suddenly has vehemence in her words. Katara had not seen Mai have so much emotion in the several months she has known her, both as a victim for some time, and as a friend for a few days. "You seriously regret saving my life?"

Ty Lee frowns faintly. It looks strange on her face; she is usually smiling. "I don't regret saving your life. But I think it was reckless and stupid. I was okay with it when Zuko was alive and he was going to end the war. But now I'm stuck here for my whole life because you had a crush that went too far."

Mai clenches her fists. The guards watching the prisoners tense, prepared to intervene.

"You have no idea what it's like to be in love with─"

"Don't you _dare_." And Ty Lee stands up. "I gave up the person I loved to save the one you loved! So don't look at me and act like I just don't understand! I lost her way before you lost Zuko!"

Mai is silenced. She knows that Ty Lee has a point, but she also knows that she is being a bitch about it.

"You could've decided to let her kill me. It was _your _choice that got you here. So don't play the victim," Mai says as Katara slips in her arms. She lets Katara fall to the floor as she walks towards Ty Lee. "Or are you just sad that you're not Fire Lady right now?"

Ty Lee jumps at her best friend with a force she did not know she had. Mai tackles her to the floor as Ty Lee digs her fingers into Mai's shoulder. Mai falls back, limp. Ty Lee stands up as she is grabbed by two muscular guards. She does not resist them as they pull her away, taking her to be punished.

One of the Kyoshi Warriors helps Mai to her feet, the other grabbing Katara.

"What was that about?" Katara asks as they return to their cell an hour later. Mai has only just regained most of her feeling; Ty Lee made her completely numb.

"She was right." Mai shrugs. "I've never seen her _angry _like that."

"Who was she talking about?" Katara has heard the story of Mai saving Zuko and sacrificing herself. But there was nothing about Ty Lee losing somebody too. Especially not a _she_, given how she came on so strong to Sokka.

"Azula." Stunned silence on Katara's part. "Yeah, fucked up, huh? They got together formally a couple of days before the Broiling Rock. It didn't work out so well for them."

Katara has no words.

Days pass like years.

Azula controls forces to fight her Uncle, who is aided by Sokka, Toph and Suki. He has gathered armies and Ba Sing Se is his fortress. They fight tooth and nail against the Fire Nation, and due to the plan at Sozin's Comet failing, the Fire Nation is in the thick of a war again, instead of the victor of it. Fire Lord Azula is on the verge of snapping every day.

Ty Lee is left in solitary confinement for her outburst. She attacks the guards and gets lashes and doesn't care. Mai and Katara bond in an unlikely friendship. They sometimes plot escape to find Aang, but they never go through with it.

Days pass like years.

It seems to be forever.

* * *

><p>"Take her to the airship and shackle her to something. I have one last visit to make," Azula says, one year after Sozin's Comet. Ty Lee allows herself to be removed from the chair, and taken in chains by Azula's procession. She walks with Kazou into the depths of the prison.<p>

"We followed your order."

"I don't need to be told that," Azula replies airily, walking to the cell. She opens the door and Kazou draws his weapon. She thought he was a firebender; he breathes like one.

"Azula," comes a low, emotionless, gravelly voice. Azula smirks at her. The waterbender is unconscious on one bed, while Mai sits on the other, her eyes boring into her old friend.

"How have you been?" Azula asks, shutting the door behind her. Kazou opens his mouth to protest, but he is silenced by the door in his face. "It's been a while." Her eyes gleam with a wicked sadism. Mai does not show the anger and resentment inside of her. "Is she dead?"

"She's drugged. I'm assuming you had us put together so I would hear the story of Zuko's death," Mai says and Azula smiles.

"You always were clever. I would've loved for you to be my grand advisor as promised," Azula says, smiling faintly. "But you chose your own demise."

"Why are you here?" Mai demands and Azula chews on the inside of her cheek. "Why?"

"I had to pick up something of mine," Azula says, a half truth. "I should have gotten it earlier, but I wasn't a fan of coming back here after what you did to me. I just thought I'd stop by before I left."

"You realize that if something were to happen to you, no one would be left to lead the Fire Nation? Unless, maybe they go to Ba Sing Se, knock on the door and ask your uncle very nicely," Mai says scathingly. Azula only looks amused.

"You're not going to hurt me." She is right. "I have to say, though, Mai, did you really think dear ZuZu would make it through the war?"

Pause. "Yes. Yes I did," Mai replies, though she knows Azula is only baiting her.

"I guess you miscalculated."

"Been saving that for a while?" is Mai's reply.

Azula shrugs casually and walks towards the door. She very deliberately sets her hand on it, as if to signal Kazou, but she turns around.

"Oh, and, while the peasant is unconscious, Zuko is alive. Thought you'd like to know."

Fire Lord Azula bangs on the door.

And she is gone.

Ty Lee sits, chained on the airship. The wind billows through her tangled hair, the tie from her braid having migrated towards her forehead. She looks and feels terrible, and her body is pained from all of the trouble she has given the guards. She waits for Azula, heart racing.

She knows she should have said no. While her freedom is tempting, she thinks this may be her chance to save Azula. And by saving Azula, save the world. Not to mention she... she sees this as a second chance to do things right. To fix her plethora of useful mistakes and to free Azula from the shadows and just kiss her one more time. Just one more time.

"Let's go. I hate the way this place smells." Azula walks onto the airship and Ty Lee can almost feel the temperature raise a few degrees. She does not know if that is a biochemical reaction on her part, or if Azula is giving off radiation.

Fire Lord Azula holds onto a rope, not bothering to sit down, and faces Ty Lee. She studies her closely as they take off, the subservient crew looking terrified of the Fire Lord. Ty Lee is not dumb enough to say anything. Yet, she is dumb enough to follow Azula blindly.

She remembers when Azula was distracted by the Avatar. It was her vanity project and Mai complained the entire time. They should have just taken Zuko and gone home, but Azula had to overachieve. Almost was never good enough. And Ty Lee believed in Azula to the point that she thought it would work out in the end.

It didn't.

Slowly, Azula walks towards Ty Lee. The prisoner tenses, but Azula takes her by the hair and removes the ribbon ferociously. Ty Lee whimpers, her eyes watering.

"This is driving me crazy," the Fire Lord murmurs as she starts running her fingers through Ty Lee's soft brown hair.

She rips through the tangles and Ty Lee's face contorts with pain, but once her soft brown locks are smooth, the motions of the Fire Lord's sharp nails and slender fingers feels nice. She separates Ty Lee's hair into three sections and begins to braid it. She steps back when they are a quarter of the way home, and Ty Lee's braid is fixed.

She still is covered in dirt and sweat, but the hair is an improvement. Azula does not know if she did it as a gesture of kindness or for her own aesthetic pleasure.

"So, are you sure you want to leave the Fire Nation in the middle of the war?" Ty Lee asks, knowing she is screwing herself.

"I've put a year of thought into this. I _need _to do this. I've sent countless assassins and endless soldiers after him. But some things, you simply have to do yourself. I'll leave at the last minute possible, put brief martial law in place on the home front, take the Avatar out, and return home," Azula explains, sounding more detached than usual. Ty Lee feels a twisting sensation of _worry _inside of her. "I killed him once before, didn't I?"

"And when would we leave?" Ty Lee asks, feeling nervous. Azula pauses.

"I'm not ready yet. I want it all to be laid out in front of me for the taking before I go after it. I worked hard enough for the Fire Nation; I'm not giving it up so easily," Azula says, picking at her skin. Ty Lee recalls watching her pick at her skin until it bled the last time they were in one of these airships together. They were on the way to the Boiling Rock.

_"You love me: yes or no?" Ty Lee asks as the wind billows through her hair._

_ And Azula replies, "No."_

_ Ty Lee thinks she is telling the truth. Too often, she hopes Azula is lying._

"Then why are you getting me so early?" Ty Lee asks and Azula looks as if she will not answer. The acrobat's heart speeds up as she realizes that she must have angered Azula. She spent most of her life simply telling Princess Azula what she wanted to hear, and it worked out for the best for the both of them.

"Maybe I'm lonely. Now shut up." Typical diversion tactics from Azula. Ty Lee is used to them, and Azula is certain Ty Lee is too unintelligent and trusting to notice.

Back in the prison, Mai is reeling from the news about Zuko. On one hand, Azula has a lying habit. On the other, Azula also would love to keep her brother as a prisoner and brutally torture him. It could so easily go either way.

"What's bothering you?" Katara demands as she wakes up. The waterbender stretches and tries to come to terms with her blurry vision. They gave her _far _too much this time.

"Azula was here," Mai says and Katara's eyes flash and then narrow. They both share a mutual resentment for the Fire Lord.

"What did she do?" Katara asks, leaning forward. Her hair grazes against her knees.

"She told me that Zuko is alive," Mai says quietly and Katara's eyes flicker. But quickly, Katara frowns.

"I saw him die, Mai," Katara says as Mai stands up, walks to the wall and punches it. It brings her no satisfaction so she smashes her fist into it so hard that she hears her knuckles pop. Still, it does not help her feel any better.

"You don't know. They dragged you away," Mai says bitterly and Katara purses her lips. "People survive lightning strikes. Lots of people do."

"Aang didn't─"

"Well, _I'm sorry _that I can't resurrect my boyfriend from the dead like _Miss Water Peasant _can," Mai snarls and Katara's heart flutters. She looks genuinely wounded. And Katara only wants to help her. "But you know what I can do?"

"What?" Katara breathes, unsure what is coming next. She has never seen Mai display any emotion other than apathetic, and this is frightening.

"Avenge him. You're going to waterbend us out of the Boiling Rock, and then we're going to end this war."

Meanwhile, Ty Lee finds herself in a familiar place she never thought she would see again. Her home city. Well, her mother was born in the colonies, and her father further to the west, in a small town, but they moved to the Capitol when he was promoted in the military, and they settled to have children and live in wealth and luxury.

Ty Lee wonders how many of them paid for her mistake.

She feels the shackles rub against her wrists as she is guided several steps behind the Fire Lord's palanquin. The form of Azula barely visible through curtains sends shivers through Ty Lee's body. Memories of both pleasure and pain, jubilation and regret. Their relationship is complicated in the worst manner of ways.

Her discomfort with her appearance is reflected in the faces of those who stare at the sole prisoner surrounded by guards. And they finally, after her walk of humiliation, arrive at the palace.

"Take her to her room. I have to make up for lost time," Azula calls without making eye contact with her old flame, and Ty Lee is seized by the arms. She could walk the palace on her own; she knows every nook and cranny. But they drag her to... Azula's room?

If this is going to turn into some kind of terrifying sex thing... Ty Lee might... be okay with that? She is feeling incredibly confused. The acrobat is not smart enough to handle this.

She finds a note on Azula's bed, which is tightly made and clearly long abandoned.

_I've prepared the room for your stay ─ that is until we go after the Avatar. The wardrobe is stocked; the clothes all look tacky enough for you to like. Feel free to use whatever you want in the bathroom, but you may have noticed the bars on the windows and the locked doors._

_ You are a prisoner here._

_ Don't forget it._

And her signature; the signature of the Fire Lord. Ty Lee recalls that being the only part she would leave out of the tests she cheated on and the homework she copied. Azula is the only reason she made it through the Academy, and then subsequently, she abandoned Azula for the circus.

Wrong move.

In the Boiling Rock, she would sit in solitary confinement and think about how she should have never left. How much _better _things would be if she had not decided to pursue stardom and leave the crown princess behind. Or maybe it would just make the inevitable infinitely worse.

Ty Lee sets down the note, smoothing it out gently, and walks to the wardrobe. She opens it and finds a variety of ruby outfits, some slinkier, some intended for fighting; none of them are Azula's. The Fire Lord prepared lavishly for a prisoner she claims to hate. Something feels incredibly off and unnerving about Azula and it leaves Ty Lee feeling on edge.

She picks up a light red dress ─ the closest to pink she can find ─ and walks to the bathroom. She draws a bath, looking for matches to heat the water and finding a pretty gilded box of them. They used to be lacking in Azula's room, another mental note Ty Lee makes as she analyzes her quarters.

Humming an old song, she strips down while studying herself intently in the mirror.

"Where'd you get those scars?"

And Ty Lee screams. Behind her has appeared Fire Lord Azula, who is studying the scars left from whip lashes on Ty Lee's back.

"How did you get in here?" Ty Lee gasps, pressing her hands over her cleavage. As if Azula has not _seen _all of that as both friend and lover.

"It's my house, you know?" Azula crosses her arms. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"I got them from fighting with the guards so much," Ty Lee admits, letting her hands fall. Azula does not look away. Ty Lee is not sure if that is impolite or if she is allowed to after all they've done and been through together. "I spent most of the time after... just after, alone. I made friends originally, with the Kyoshi Warriors of all people. But I got... self destructive." Silence. "It's stupid. Really stupid. I'm just going to take a bath."

Ty Lee's face is bright pink. Azula is motionless, still like a statue, though her hands seem to perpetually shake. Ty Lee notices that they never did before, but now they constantly twitch and tremble and contort as if she is afraid or in pain. But her face is bitter, remorseless and cold. Her body hard and a variety of things Ty Lee does not want it to be for her.

"Well, enjoy your bath," Azula says airily, walking away and sitting on the bed. She tilts her head slightly to the side and Ty Lee does not know what she is supposed to do.

"Do you want to sleep with me or something?" _Stupid, stupid, stupid. _But Azula laughs.

"Not really, no. Were you hoping I would?" Derision. Ty Lee feels ridiculous. Naked and ridiculous. "We're having dinner together. I'll see you then."

And Azula is gone. She shuts and locks the door behind her and Ty Lee feels momentarily claustrophobic. She looks at the bars on the sealed shut windows, the locks on the only door and the strange way the room has been recently cleaned to the point of spotlessness.

She dips into the bath, feeling a year's worth of filth washing off of her. And she scrubs at herself, finding a glass bottle of shampoo that she hopes Azula will not be angry at her for using, and she washes her own hair, scratching her scalp with her ragged fingernails.

By the end, she feels... clean. The water is bubbly from soap and light brown from filth when Ty Lee gets out of it and dries herself with a blood red towel. When she looks in the mirror, she feels different. She feels like a traitor in her own skin for accepting Azula's offer instead of remaining in prison with Mai as she should.

_ "I was more shocked than her," is the first thing Mai says when she and Ty Lee are stripped down and forced into a cell. "I never imagined you would do that for me. I was dead for sure."_

_ "You owe me one."_

_ More than one._

Azula paces in the dining room. She awaits Ty Lee, who will be taken by guards in chains and that should be _satisfying_. But Azula feels strange and she does not like _strange_. There is nothing more she hates than surprises and the unpredictable.

Never again will she miscalculate.

She hesitates, wondering what she will even discuss at dinner. Hopefully she can merely taunt her prisoner and escape to father's bedroom. _Her _bedroom ─ she has to stop calling it that.

_Azula sits at the dining room table. Two months have passed since she took the throne and her father presumably died._

_ The table is long and ornate, with grooves in the archaic wood. She sat alone here in this chair many times in her life, staring blankly forward as she was served by scurrying servants. But she never imagined eating alone as being permanent._

_ There is so much _silence_. Her father is gone and she lives her alone at night, sleeping in what once was his bedroom. There is so much _silence_._

_ "I'm so fucking tired of the quiet!" Azula screams and no one is around to hear it except the silent servant several rooms away who gave her the dinner she simply picks at and does not eat. "So... it's hot out today, isn't it, chair across the room?" Pause. "You think so too?" Pause. Azula enthusiastically nods. "Yes, the summer has been endless. Maybe I'll move to the South Pole with you." Pause. "Yes, just a girl and her chair in the South Pole with the water p─"_

_ "Your high-highness...?" comes the voice of some petty servant. Caught. Azula's face is red._

_ "Banished."_

Azula sits at her chair, looking forward at an empty seat. The same routine every night. She avoids eating except at dinner, save for maybe forcing herself something when she is about to pass out from training and trying to thwart her uncle. Deciding which little boys and girls die at war and trying to figure out when she is going to stop being a little girl and start being a real Fire Lord.

What _is _being the real Fire Lord like? These are the questions that never leave her, tugging at her like wet clothes as you are dragged to the bottom of the ocean. She is drowning every day.


	2. The Fire Lord's Pet Acrobat

Chapter Two: The Fire Lord's Pet Acrobat

* * *

><p>But if she can kill the Avatar, <em>yes, <em>if she can kill the Avatar, then she will be happy.

"Hi," comes a long lost voice. She seems too _pleased _with the situation. Azula looks upon her glee at being a prisoner with the same contempt she felt when she saw Ty Lee standing on her head surrounded by filthy animals and weathered tents.

"Sit down," Azula says and her regal tone is destroyed by her voice cracking. Ty Lee pretends she did not notice, as she should. The acrobat complies and two servants move from the shadows and remove the handcuffs.

When Azula made the final step to achieving her dreams, she did not imagine she would be doing it alone. Nor could she have ever conceived that she could feel lonely. She was never _lonely _as a child, even when she saw no one but emotionless trainers and tutors for days at a time. But as a comet sped across the fading sky, she was _lonely_. And she is _lonely _still.

Ty Lee is already incredibly worried about Azula. She has this impenetrable thousand yard stare. There is something about her like an animal trying to look very big and frightening when it is small and certain it is about to be devoured. Her posture is not as perfect, her composure not as unbreakable.

But as the prisoner of an unstable and quite terrifying captor, Ty Lee grins and tries to rid herself of the desire to hug Azula and never let go. She does not think the Fire Lord will take very kindly to that sentiment. She always hated pity and would never accept a lick of sympathy.

"I _am _happy to see you, Azula," Ty Lee says, hoping they are not the wrong words. Azula pauses and Ty Lee can tell that she is thinking. The wicked, conniving gleam in her eyes, the slight pout on her rosy lips.

"I'm pleasant company," she purrs as food is served. Ty Lee's stomach growls and she digs her bare toes into the floor. _Don't look greedy. Don't look greedy. _"Tell me; what is it about me that's so lovable?"

"You're smart and funny and─"

"Rhetorical," Azula snaps ferociously.

"What does...?" Ty Lee trails off. She does not need to know what 'rhetorical' means to know that Azula wants her to shut up and eat her food.

Azula looks at her plate with distaste and Ty Lee half expects her to order the chef to be beheaded. But she simply stares at the gilded tableware and food. Ty Lee swallows, trying to combat the agony in her stomach and mouth. She always waited for Azula to eat before she did, _always_.

"Are you going to just sit there and ogle the food I'm giving you out of the kindness of my heart or are you going to eat it?" Azula demands without looking up. Ty Lee feels even more unnerved.

Pointedly, she forces a spoonful of the flawlessly cooked rice into her mouth. The sauce is _incredible _and she notices that Azula is looking at her now and it makes her heart race. She nearly chokes and Azula smirks.

Ty Lee stops. Pause. This is incredibly strange and bizarre.

"That's it?" Azula asks and Ty Lee is entirely unsure what she wants. She feels like the Earth King's pet baffled bear, Bosco. The Fire Lord's confused pet acrobat, Ty Lee. "Well, you managed to make a single bite melodramatic. But that's typical of you, I suppose. A histrionic whore who doesn't know what's good for her. Or maybe she's just too dumb to make good decisions; she needs her friends to choose for her."

Ty Lee's eyes start to water, her lips small and trembling. The insult wounds because every word of it is true. Azula pushes her food around on the plate with the utensils, her eyes averted from the mess she made with her sharp tongue. She starts to dissect the steak slowly, like a sadistic surgeon. It makes Ty Lee uneasy.

"Why did you bring me here if you're only going to make fun of me?" Ty Lee asks, her voice small and childlike. Azula sighs haughtily.

"I need you on my mission," Azula says, unsure if even _she _believes it. Ty Lee certainly does not. "Just try the meat." The meat that Fire Lord Azula tore into bloody shreds but is not eating. Defeated already. Ty Lee does not like Fire Lord Azula; Princess Azula was much more predictable.

"I need a knife," Ty Lee says softly. Azula eyes her closely, daring her to make a move. Slowly, the Fire Lord rises.

The servants grovel needlessly and Azula does not notice. She used to take great pleasure in every bow of respect, to force lips to touch the ground in her presence. But now it bores her. _Agni, _everything bores her. But Ty Lee might be able to entertain the jaded Fire Lord.

Azula holds a knife in one hand, bloodied from the meat she picked apart and did not even taste. She dissected it and it was slightly disturbing to Ty Lee, but now she moves. Azula's arm drapes over her and Ty Lee feels resounding shame from the arousal it brings.

"You smell nice," Ty Lee squeaks before realizing her words. Azula smirks, but tries to suppress it. And she cuts Ty Lee's food for her with gravitas. _You're mine now_, Ty Lee hears echoing with every sound of sawing steak.

"Can you eat it now?" Azula asks, walking away. She drops the knife as she moves and it stabs into the wooden floor. A mess for someone else, Azula decides.

"I'm happy to, princess." And Azula does not correct her, nor does Ty Lee correct herself.

Ty Lee keeps her mouth full as Azula seems to be in a staring contest with a painting on the wall. It is of a scenic landscape of the volcanic north. Ty Lee glances at it occasionally, but quickly becomes too frightened and returns to soothing herself with the first real food she has eaten in over a year.

And many miles away from the chilly dining room where the Fire Lord halfheartedly watches her prisoner feast, Mai paces in front of a woozy Katara.

"On the full moon you can always waterbend a little bit," Mai says and Katara slowly nods. They have been through escape plots a thousand times; they all were to find Aang. But now Katara is growing jaded. She wonders sometimes what happened to the girl who gave too many passionate speeches about hope. She lost hope when she lost her balance and Azula took her down.

"Yes, but not even enough to make a difference. The drugs are too strong," Katara argues and Mai purses her lips. This is always where their dreams of escape end.

"I wish we were smart enough to figure out how to detox you. If we could get your waterbending on, we would just have to convince a guard to let us out, cause a distraction, and you could freeze the lake over and we could just run across like little water peasants," Mai says and Katara does not correct the slur at the end of her speech. She usually would, but Mai has been so obsessed with this escape, that Katara will do anything to just get her to stop talking about it.

"It's not going to work." Katara lies down.

"I don't understand it. You used to be so _into _escaping. And you used to try to help people around here. Help the prisoners and all that bullshit I told you was pointless. Now you just want to sleep. You're the Avatar's waterbending master. You totally kicked me and Ty Lee and Azula's asses more than once. You're pretty incredible, Katara, and somehow you manage to be nice to people. What happened?" Mai asks, leaning against the rock hard wall. Her words are so genuine that it surprises Katara; Mai gets more sarcastic every day.

"I want to be..." Katara shrugs. Mai frowns. They are at an impasse.

"You used to be so pissed about how _apathetic _I am. And now you're three times worse."

Katara does not respond.

That night, while Katara and Mai lie silently thinking of escape and how far they have fallen, Azula lies in her father's bed. What _once _was her father's bed. She stayed in her room at first, but every time she lied in the bed she would feel restless and start wandering the palace, trying to escape the memories. She would feel as if she was suffocating and her heart would race. Servants would find her sleeping on sofas, coffee tables and floors as she would try to get a handle on herself. And fail.

Finally, she admitted she was Fire Lord. It was all she ever dreamt of, after all. And she took the master bedroom of the palace, which is far too large for someone so small.

She used to hate the smell of her father. Of course, she loved him. _Loves _him. But the smell of his cologne made her feel ill. Dread. Utter dread. The only word she could associate with the scent of Fire Lord Ozai or his sheets is _dread_. But now it is solace. She wonders what she will do when the scent of the room is replaced with hers.

Probably start wandering the halls gasping for breath again.

Ty Lee sleeps across the palace in Azula's room. She recalls coming in here the night after the Invasion, terrified and absorbed in Azula. She was staying in the guest room, and she considered it an endless slumber party after Azula got the permission of Fire Lord Ozai. Mai had not been permitted to stay.

_"I'm not having any bastard children in this family," Ozai says and Ty Lee glances between Mai and Azula. They can't...? But then it hit her that he was talking about Zuko and Mai. "The circus freak can stay, if you insist, Azula. But not Zuko's girlfriend. Dismissed; I have more important things to do than arrange my daughter's sleepovers."_

_As they walk away from the throne room, Ty Lee wrapped around Azula and Mai both, Azula murmurs, "It took every fiber in my body not to reply,_ _that I was under the impression he had several."_

_Laughter._

The night after the Invasion, Ty Lee crept into Azula's bedroom and pawed at the door. And they slept together. It was Ty Lee's first time ever, with her first crush. It was beautiful and alien and new and Ty Lee could not believe how free and alive she felt in that hour. But she left before Azula woke up; she feared her rage.

And she was right to. In the morning, Azula came to breakfast. They kissed and Azula slid onto her lap, but then Azula was called to an audience with Fire Lord Ozai. And when she came back, she told Ty Lee she hated her and it was a mistake. Her hands were ablaze in azure.

But then she kissed her and told her they should do it again.

Azula is _confusing_. And Fire Lord Azula is particularly confusing.

Ty Lee stares at the ceiling of the familiar room. She feels alone tonight, and she wonders how lonely Azula has been. Then again, she is coldhearted and solitary.

But the more Ty Lee replays Azula's actions in her mind, the more she realizes something.

Fire Lord Azula is a shipwreck.

And Ty Lee has silently taken on the impossible task of reviving her from the depths.

Ty Lee wakes up after surprisingly peaceful sleep. The sun is glimmering through the bars on the window, making an interesting striped pattern on the wooden floor. The soft mattress feels nice beneath her scarred back, the bed familiar. It still smells like Azula and she vaguely likes it.

She wonders what will happen once she goes after the Avatar with Fire Lord Azula. If it will end well or not. The Avatar has not been seen in a year. And the war only got worse. Ty Lee could hear guards gossiping about it as she quietly went about her day.

The days in the Boiling Rock were painful. She hopes that, although she remains a prisoner, her life will improve. And that maybe she can improve Azula's life.

_"You think she loved you?" Mai snarls, as soon as Ty Lee is let out of solitary confinement. She immediately wound up in another fight with her old best friend. The one she sacrificed her life for. "As if."_

_"I think she did," Ty Lee replies sharply. "You're not _special _because you had Zuko."_

_Mai has never heard such bitterness in Ty Lee's words. Her friend was a bubbling ball of obnoxious optimism, but in the grim lights of the Boiling Rock, she grows restless and almost venomous. But Mai will not lie down and apologize._

_"And if you loved her so much, why did you break her heart, huh?" Mai says sharply and Katara grabs her arm. Ty Lee glares at the Water Tribe girl._

_"You were my best friend, Mai. I thought we were all going to the end together." She has no excuse. Ty Lee does not regret it; she does not. But Mai lashes out at the only person who cares about her in this prison._

_"Well we weren't."_

_Ty Lee turns away._

In the palace, a year after her relationship with Mai started to crumble, Ty Lee gets out of bed and starts stretching. She lost none of her flexibility although her stamina has severely decreased. She contorts through familiar positions and feels at slight ease.

Azula used to say she was upside down all of the time because she was so dumb her brain needed extra blood in it to work. And Ty Lee took it with laughter. Her friends showed love through cruel words and condescension. But Ty Lee loved them irrevocably and truly, and would do anything for either of them.

That's why she saved Mai. Because she would do anything for the only two people who ever cared about her.

But Azula saw it as an act of ultimate betrayal.

And Ty Lee will never live it down.

Many miles away, "Lightning doesn't always kill someone," is the first thing Katara hears when she wakes up. _Great_. "I've seen Azula use it to incapacitate."

Katara yawns before she is able to reply, "I'm pretty sure she was going for the kill."

And they are again at an impasse.

"Didn't you want to save the world?" Mai asks for the thousandth time. Katara is getting tired of answering that question. All the waterbender can do is frown.

"It was my whole life. But now it's about survival," Katara says with a small shrug. Mai grits her teeth.

All Katara ever did was help people. She was utterly selfless to the point of risking herself and being brutalized by guards. But every day she seems to detach more and more. Mai is _done _with it, as the cellmates' roles have strangely switched.

"Look, Mai," Katara says after a moment of thought, "if you can figure out how to detox me, I'll help us escape."

"I'm pretty smart," Mai says softly, tapping her fingers impatiently. She _will _get the drugs out of Katara's system. And she _will _escape and save the fucking world from the nation she swore allegiance to.

She _must_.

Azula has been in war meetings all morning. Her uncle is not making her life easy, that is certain. She rubs her temples and sinks down beneath a portrait of Sozin, sitting there with her knees touching her chin. Too much. Too _fucking much_.

She rubs her eyes and forces herself to her feet. Slowly, she wanders through the palace and to the courtyard. Breathing in sunlight, she conjures blue flame on her fingertips and toys with it briefly. Flashy, showy; she sends a barrage of blue at a tree and she hears it crackle, burn and blacken.

But it gives her no satisfaction. She tries to summon lightning and fails. Her eyes flicker wide; this has never happened. Ever since her father taught her how to bend lightning, it has gradually become easier. She could do it in her sleep. But smoke simply wafts from her fingertips.

She is slipping. _Agni_, she is slipping.

Maybe she is tired. She has to be. That is the _only _explanation for her lack of prowess. Exhaustion from running the entire nation singlehandedly.

"Your highness," comes a voice behind her and with two fingers touched together she spins around. Blue electricity spurts from her fingers, surging through her body with a sense of euphoria, and grazes the ear of one of her advisors. His eyes bulge.

"Yes." Azula sets her hands at her sides. She breathes a small sigh of relief at the pulse of electricity.

"On the topic of your _project_," he says, still staring at the singe mark on the wall behind him, "we have a lead. A small one. But a lead."

Azula feels relief for the first time in a long time. "The Avatar?" she asks cautiously, an eyebrow raised. He nods.

"We have reason to believe he is in Gaoling."

The Fire Lord has heard it before. "All of the sightings turn out false once I have them investigated."

He looks at her warm fingertips with anxiety. It was Fire Lord Ozai who was notorious for killing the messenger, but Azula occasionally indulges. But she waits for his answer; with her preemptive gathering of Ty Lee, she wants to have a chance to catch the elusive Avatar.

"So, tell me why this instance is different than the others?" Azula asks softly and he squirms. He is a head taller than her, but tries to make himself look very small.

"It... it isn't, your highness," he stammers, face as red as his uniform. "We'll investigate."

"Send a team," Azula orders as calmly as she can. She got her hopes up for nothing.

But she plots all the same. The only thing that keeps her half sane is conniving plans to end the life of the boy who unraveled her.

The Avatar _must _die.

Then the nightmares will stop.

They have to.

Meanwhile, Mai has been conniving as much as the Fire Lord. But her plotting ends the moment she is let out of her cell for the first time since Azula left. Her perfume scent has not left the cell and Mai sincerely hopes it airs out. The smell of the ex-princess is unpleasant, floral, expensive and utterly disgusting.

She and Katara sit against a wall, Katara's eyes drooping.

"Where's Ty Lee?" Mai asks, narrowing her eyes at the gang of Kyoshi Warriors. They remind her of the popular girls at school, when she and Azula were the outcasts. But without their optimistic ringleader, what are they?

"I dunno." Katara shrugs. Mai gets up, abandoning her drugged best friend, and approaches the girls she personally put into the Boiling Rock.

"Where's Ty Lee?" Mai crosses her arms and the girl with raven hair purses her lips. She turns to Mai while the others snub her.

"Fire Lord Azula left with her yesterday," she says with a note of lament. The other warriors cross the room to evade talking to Mai.

Mai's eyes flicker. _No_.

"Did she go willingly?" Mai demands, her hands twitching towards the girl. She recognizes her eyes ─ Mai chained her and stole her clothes personally. She remembers thinking the girl looked like a Fire Nation bastard.

"She was in chains. But they weren't dragging her." And the girl walks off to join her friends.

Mai falters.

Now she _really _needs to get out of here.

In the Capitol City, Ty Lee is pretending she is having a romantic picnic. The reality is less glamorous as she is seated in front of a meditating Azula.

The Fire Lord's eyes flicker open. She smirks at the sight of the prisoner forced onto her knees in front of her captor.

"Hi," Ty Lee says gently, smiling faintly. She looks at Azula with a sympathetic glint in her protuberant eyes that aggravates the Fire Lord.

They are sitting in the courtyard, beside ash rose bushes and between white and rose tinted trees. Ty Lee is handcuffed, her wrists and ankles, and Azula is contemplating freeing her. But she wonders if it is simply her emotions getting the best of her. They sip tea, Ty Lee constantly spilling from her awkwardly bent limbs.

Azula finally sees one splash too many and reaches forward, grabbing Ty Lee's hand. Blush and choke from the acrobat. The Fire Lord withdraws a small key and starts unlocking the bonds.

"My father told me something once," Azula purrs, changing the course from their awkward conversation about the hot and dry weather, "about prisoners and slaves. He said he always kept the bonds on a little too tight, so that if they turned or twisted at all, they would always remember their place."

Her deadpan as she describes her father's words unnerves Ty Lee, but all she does is nod as the bonds fall onto the yellowing grass. Ty Lee stretches her limbs elegantly as Azula sets down the shackles. She returns to her tea as if she did not just set a prisoner halfway free.

"I sent a team to investigate a sighting of the Avatar," Azula says, unsure why she is being so honest.

"And if they see evidence...?" Ty Lee asks anxiously, dreading the moment she leaves her gilded cage and is forced into a chase around the globe.

"Then we leave," Azula says with a small shrug. She finishes her tea and sets down the small, smooth cup. "Are you prepared for it?"

"I guess. It can't be much different from the first time." Ty Lee offers a small smile. Azula's face does not move.

"Hopefully your decision making has improved since then," Azula purrs and Ty Lee's cheeks turn light pink. She sips the last of her tea, although it burns her mouth. "Now let's see if you've gone soft."

Ty Lee has mere seconds to react before her surroundings erupt in cerulean. She gasps for breath as she backflips over the flames. Her muscles ache from impact; a thousand pull ups and stretches in her prison cell cannot prepare a body for a fight against Azula.

The blue keeps coming as Ty Lee scales a tree. From the vantage point, she teeters. And with a crack of lightning, the tree snaps in half. She lands on her hand and her wrist pops, but she pushes herself up and starts running. Azula chases after her.

She pushes off of a wall as soon as she reaches the entrance to the palace. The wall is lit ablaze in flame, singing Ty Lee's shirt. She tears it off as lightning grazes her ear. So glad she decided to wear a bra. She slides through another door, into a long, dimly lit hallway. Azula is right behind her as she runs through the halls, opening and closing doors as they light on fire.

Ty Lee starts to run out of breath as she rounds a corner and bounds into a library. Azula is still behind, punching through the blockades Ty Lee threw behind her. Ty Lee wedges herself behind a shelf and tries to calm her breathing.

Azula walks in, glancing around. "Hiding? Really?" she breathes, clenching a fist and quenching every flame she left behind her. Once the crackling of fire is silenced, she can hear the ragged breath of her prisoner.

As Azula moves in, Ty Lee jumps out. One of Azula's arms falls limp as Ty Lee gets in a punch. But with a kick of her leg, Azula knocks the prisoner onto her back. The winds are knocked out of Ty Lee from the force of the stone floor as she gasps and chokes. Azula rubs her numb appendage.

"Well, you can still run," Azula says, no longer breathless. Ty Lee coughs in response. "But you'll have to do better than that if you want your freedom."

"You could've killed me," Ty Lee chokes, realizing how cold her ribs are. She tore off her shirt. Blush.

"I didn't," Azula says, not hiding the fact that she is staring at her prisoner's exposed body. She looks incredibly good.

Ty Lee reaches up one hand for Azula to help her to her feet, but the Fire Lord turns on her heel and goes to get changed for war meeting five of the day.

Collecting herself, Ty Lee pushes onto her feet. She doubles over, rubbing her wrist. Bile rises in her throat, but she swallows it.

Suddenly, she is grabbed, and before she can throw a punch, she realizes it is soldiers with wrist and ankle cuffs. She allows herself to be taken back to her room.

She flops down in her bed and curses her desire to cure Azula.

This is going to be more work than she imagined.

Meanwhile, Mai is doing push ups. Katara watches with relative disinterest.

"What good will that do you?" Katara asks, wheezing. Her dose was too strong again. New guards. "We're not ever leaving this place."

Mai sits up. "We're breaking out, Katara. It's going to happen."

"Look, I'm happy to see you as hopeful. I _am_. But─"

"I know how to detox you."

Katara's eyes widen.

And Mai's plan _actually _works. She fought the guards, distracting them as Katara pretended to be unconscious. And while Mai was dragged away, she smashed all of the sedatives they had lined up. She currently is bleeding and in solitary, but it was worth it. She heard them say they would have to order more from the _colonies_, before they would have enough to keep Katara under wraps.

She sits in the dark of solitary confinement and plots the next phase of her plan. They will need a hefty distraction, and then they will have to get outside. Once outside, Katara has almost unlimited water, and she can easily bend them out of the prison. This escape attempt has the largest chance of working of any one of the ones that Mai and Katara discussed.

The door swings open to reveal the Kyoshi Warrior who looks Fire Nation. Mai leaps forward and is met by a _riot _that had been blocked from her vision and hearing from the soundproof walls meant to drive those in solitary insane. _Better than the coolers_, they say, but Mai does not believe them.

"Katara told us the plan and we're helping. Get out and save your friend. Save the world," the Kyoshi Warrior says breathlessly and Mai starts running. She picks up a chair and swings it, smashing it into the back of the head of a guard. It plunks against his helmet but knocks him out anyway.

She starts running and sees Katara half drugged, punching and kicking guards. She _needs water_. Mai looks around and finally finds the lunchroom. She runs inside and grabs a bowl of tea. Water is distinctly missing, but this jasmine will have to do. She runs and throws it over the balcony and at Katara. The waterbender blinks, startled, before sweeping up the tea and turning it into blades of ice.

_Yes, yes, yes. _Mai has never been this excited. In fact, she has never been excited in general. But at this moment, she absolutely is. She runs, speeding along, taking out guards with ease. _Damn_, she wishes she had some blades, but she manages hand-to-hand fairly well.

She and Katara make it outside, running as the Kyoshi Warriors work up the rest of the prisoners. The room is lit ablaze by liberated firebenders. And the last waterbender of the Southern Tribe runs with Mai to the outdoors. They pull through the locked doors that popped open as reinforcements were forced to head into the prison. It feels like a dream. It is too easy.

"And here's where most escape attempts stop," Mai says breathlessly, looking at the broiling lake. Katara smirks. It is a strange expression on her face.

She freezes the entire lake as the full moon continues to rise in the sky. It fills her body with incredible power, surging through her as she _bends again_. Her heart soars as she grabs Mai's hand and starts to run across the ice. Their red rags ripple in the steam created from the hot water turning ice cold.

Mai slips and Katara catches her. They are both laughing hysterically as Katara uses the water to create stairs of ice leading them out of the crater. They make it to the top and stand in the wind, breathing in the fresh sea air. They hug each other tightly, something Mai never imagined she would be doing with anyone.

"We smell awful," Mai sighs as she looks at the prison.

"Cut the ropes on the gondola," Katara orders and Mai simply blinks at her. "_Right_. I'll do it."

Katara uses a few slashes of water, overpowered from the full moon, and cuts the ropes. The gondolas crash through the ice and upset the entire lake. Power courses through Katara's veins and Mai's heart races in a way it never has before.

"Okay, now we have to get out of here and to Ba Sing Se," Katara says, running down the edge of the crater. Mai follows her.

"No, we have to go to the Capitol City," she says as Katara starts forming a boat of ice with her waterbending. It is incredibly impressive, even as unbelievable as Azula's feats of blue fire.

"Why would we walk right into Azula's clutches?" Katara asks breathlessly, stepping into the ice boat and holding out her hand for Mai to follow her.

"We need my passports, weapons and clothes. We can do it, Katara, I know we can," Mai says and Katara smiles.

_So perfect_. Katara cannot believe Mai's enthusiasm. Both of them did not care at all, but now they are brilliantly illuminated in the pale moonlight as Katara guides the boat at a breakneck speed towards the Fire Nation mainland.

"We're going to save the world," Katara breathes, her protuberant eyes glowing.

Mai, strangely, shares her sentiment.

In the morning, Azula wakes up on a coffee table in the east parlor. The sun is filtered through ruby curtains to bask her half clothed body in a red glow. Her back aches and she tries to remember how she got here. It comes to her after a few moments of thought; she woke in the night from a nightmare in which her father and Ty Lee blended into one antagonist, and started suffocating again.

She stumbles back to her father's bedroom and tries to make herself look remotely presentable. Sweating bullets, she splashes her face with water from a wash basin and rubs make-up over her wan face. A little eye make-up and she looks like a human being. Or, well, a beautiful monster.

Deep breaths. Composed. She finds clothes and slips them over her slender form. Presentable. Deep breaths. Composed.

Just a little firebending training and then she simply has to take care of a few audiences and then she can go back to sleep...

_Twelve year old Azula wakes up and feels ill. She had nightmares ─ which is normal for her ─ but she feels weak and fatigued from her restless and perturbing night._

_She walks to breakfast and finds her father sitting at the table. He rarely is; usually he is already absorbed in his duties as Fire Lord by sunrise. Suppressing a smile, she sits down at the table across from him and starts picking apart a piece of fruit._

_"You look horrible," he says and Azula _thinks _he is concerned about her. She hopes he is concerned about her. It is partially his fault that she feels this way. If the Fire Lord could keep his hands to himself, his daughter would probably be ill less often. Not that she would ever voice such a treasonous opinion._

_"I feel horrible, father," she says, locking eyes with him. But it makes her heart speed up and she quickly averts her gaze._

_"If there's anything you need, you'll have it," he says as if she did not know that._

_"I..." Azula is terrified to try this, "do you think I could skip training today?"_

_He examines her for a moment. She thinks he is going to cave in._

_"You don't want to firebend today?" he asks, almost kindly. She wonders what he means by that tone._

_"No, father," she says softly, head tilted to the side slightly._

_"Alright," he says and her eyes flicker wide. "You don't want to firebend today; I'll break your hands and you'll never firebend again."_

_Azula was foolish to get her hopes up._

She still practices every day after the schedule her father implemented on her. It is the only sanity in waging a war and running a nation. At least people like her; she is ranked favorably among the people. But the other side has General Iroh now, who she thought was a tea-loving lunatic, but happens to be as brilliant a strategist as her.

And the obsession with the Avatar seems to be hereditary.

But when she trains, moving through motions, she does not think about father or the Avatar or uncle or _Ty Lee_. She can only think about the proper movements of her body, her fingers, and the course of lightning and lick of cerulean fire.

And she walks to her first audience feeling mostly okay. Even though in her vivid dreams the kiss she shared with an old flame turned into much more.

Azula sits on the throne and knows that this is all she ever wanted. That even with her good days and bad days, she is better at being Fire Lord than anyone since Sozin. Maybe she could do even _more _than Fire Lord Sozin if she could just focus and stop thinking about blue arrows and pink acrobats.

"Your highness," and Azula is interrupted the moment she arrives in the palace. This man's eyes flicker around the room like he cannot contain the thoughts and words within him. This will be good.

"Yes?" she asks, noticing that even when he kneels, he is almost as tall as her. It is considerably more difficult to be intimidating when she is barely over five feet tall and in the body of a slender sixteen year old, and not a muscular man pushing six feet like the three Fire Lords before her.

"I have something that may interest you," he says, holding a scroll out to her. Azula opens it, reading carefully. The man gnaws on his lip until it bleeds as she reads.

It is a distress signal from the Avatar. From _the Avatar_. A distress signal from _the Avatar._

"This is... almost evidence he's alive," Azula murmurs, her eyes boring into the page. It is enough to mount an investigation on, that is for sure.

"We've taken the liberty of sending a team to investigate the credibility of the source," the man says, his lips nearly touching the floor now. Azula smirks.

And the odds are back in her favor.

She calls for Ty Lee for lunch.

The audiences of the day went well, and she is informed that she had a wonderful victory in the Northeastern Earth Kingdom. A kiss doesn't matter. A kiss doesn't matter because Fire Lords don't think about that kind of thing. _They simply don't. _And Fire Lord Azula is the greatest Fire Lord of all time, she knows it.

"Good morning," Ty Lee says, yawning pointedly. Well lucky her, sleeping until lunchtime. "I just woke up. How did you sleep?"

"Like a baby," Azula snarls and Ty Lee recoils. She stares at her food and tries not to look at Azula.

"So, uh, how's the Fire Nation?" the prisoner offers feebly.

"Winning, as usual," Azula says, looking more at ease. So Ty Lee found the one thing she is comfortable talking about. The same as she always was; that is a relief. "I'm doing surprisingly well as Fire Lord."

"I don't think it's surprising at all," Ty Lee says and Azula is put off by her honesty for the thousandth time. "It was what you were born to do."

Azula shrugs. "You have a point."

"And have you heard back about the Avatar?" Ty Lee inquires and Azula shakes her head.

"Gaoling is far away. And not occupied yet. Well, it _will _be if I have anything to do with it," Azula says, sipping tea. Ty Lee watches her shaking hands and recalls herself kissing them. Deep breaths. Composed. "Maybe you can be governor when this is all over."

Ty Lee smiles faintly. "I don't think I'm smart enough for that."

"I was just being generous," Azula says, smirking. "Where will you live after we killed the Avatar?"

"I thought we were going to part ways forever," Ty Lee says and Azula splashes hot tea on herself. She curses, her eyes flickering with a virulent rage she does not understand. "I was teasing you. You take things kinda seriously, princess."

"_Fire Lord_." Silence.

"You take things kinda seriously, Fire Lord Azula."

"Better," Azula says with a small smirk.

Brief silence afflicts the room as Ty Lee eats her lunch. The food is certainly an improvement from the Boiling Rock. She cannot get enough of it, although she is only allowed to eat at meals. And, despite Azula's cruelty, eating with her feels _right _somehow. Maybe Ty Lee is just a masochist.

_Azula and Ty Lee stand on the steel royal ship. They have left Ba Sing Se and now are returning home as heroes. Ty Lee is glad that Azula looks happy, and same with even Mai. Azula leans over the side of the ship, the sea wind whipping through her bangs._

_Ty Lee walks to her and stands beside her. Inside, she is concealing so many things that she longs to voice. But she knows she cannot, because she is frightened that Azula will slip away._

_"How does it feel to be a hero?" Ty Lee asks sweetly, protuberant eyes vivisecting her best friend. Azula shrugs, half of her rosy lips curled upwards._

_"I expected it to happen eventually," Azula says airily, part of her words a sigh. Ty Lee flashes a grin in response._

_They stand together for some time, Ty Lee attempting small talk and Azula not doing a very good job of returning it._

_"Princess," Ty Lee says, her heart rate increasing to a dangerous point. Azula cocks an eyebrow, curious about what could be making Ty Lee blush as pink as her clothes, "what are we?"_

_Azula is momentarily confused before she realizes what she means. She purses her lips momentarily._

_And she touches her lips to Ty Lee's. Utter confusion as they fall into a kiss, Azula's hand slipping behind Ty Lee's back and holding their bodies close together. The arousal is uncomfortable to both of them._

_"Very masochistic," Azula replies as the kiss breaks. "Now don't disturb me."_

_Azula walks away, leaving Ty Lee weak kneed and her head spinning._

_That's what this budding romance is; sick masochism._

"The Avatar has sent a message to his friends," Azula says and Ty Lee's eyes flash wide. "He seems to think he was safe to do that. But it was intercepted. We may have our catch yet."

"That's wonderful, Prin-Fire Lord Azula," Ty Lee says softly, although she wishes she had more time with Azula to work on aiding her friend's evident instability.

"I simply can't wait to kill him," Azula purrs, her eyes sparkling with a pleasure that they were devoid of before.

Ty Lee sincerely hopes it will work out.

Going against all four elements with only fire will be more difficult than Fire Lord Azula can fathom. But with enough practice, she can do absolutely anything. At the same time, she can spar with Ty Lee to make her more adept at aiding her best friend.

Stripping away bending is one of the ways Azula can get ahead. And as far as she knows, Ty Lee is the only person who knows how to do it. Her unwavering loyalty is most useful as well.

"I'm ready to spar," Ty Lee says brightly, holding out her shackled wrists for Azula to remove the bonds. Azula does with ease, dropping them onto the floor and moving to her ankles. Her hot breath against Ty Lee's core sends ripples of erotic discomfort through the prisoner acrobat.

Azula notices how Ty Lee tenses in response to her hot breath. It brings a small smirk to her lips. The acrobat is still in love with the Fire Lord. _Perfect_.

"Alright, let's go," Azula says smoothly, relishing her control over the situation. She and Ty Lee head into the ring, Ty Lee vaulting over it and Azula climbing with ease.

They stand across from each other, as it is respectful to do. Ty Lee bows, but Azula does not return. When was the last time a _Fire Lord _bowed to anyone? And so they begin the fight.

Azula punches blasts of blue that Ty Lee easily dodges. Every time Ty Lee goes in for a punch, Azula swoops away as if she is dancing on air. Ty Lee is quickly out of breath as Azula throws fire at her feet, requiring her to jump backwards over it. She sticks the landing and curses at the pain in her wrists.

Fire Lord Azula takes that as her opportunity and delivers a lick of flame that grazes Ty Lee's neck. She gasps from the heat and stumbles. Azula lunges forward and swings her leg into Ty Lee, but not before Ty Lee digs her thumb into Azula's heel. Azula stumbles on her limp leg, but pushes Ty Lee to the floor and summons a flame. She points it at her prisoner, her gait off from Ty Lee's damage.

"I suppose I win," Azula says airily with a small shrug.

"Rematch?" Ty Lee says and Azula smirks.

"Once my leg starts working again. You wouldn't want an unfair fight, now would you?" Azula says, rubbing below her knee. Ty Lee sits beside her on the edge of the ring.

"So you think the Avatar is close?" Ty Lee asks as Azula tries to regain blood flow and chi flow. The acrobat hesitantly takes over, rubbing Azula's leg and attempting raiki from a small distance. The light touch of Azula's prisoner sends shivers through her and tenses her muscles, not helping Ty Lee's cause. But she feels it too as she gently touches Azula's skin and tries to guide the chi back to normal.

"I _know _he's close. He tried to get a distress call out to his girlfriend. We intercepted it," Azula says and Ty Lee smiles faintly. "I've sent a team to investigate and I can only hope they're _competent_. So few are, these days."

The feeling returns to Azula's leg. She sits up, stretching it.

"Now, that's impressive," Azula remarks honestly and Ty Lee beams. The acrobat leaps back into the ring and the Fire Lord slowly follows.

Azula summons a flame, swirling in a whirlpool of blue. Ty Lee avoids it, tripping a few times as she does. The room goes up by several degrees as Azula does not hold back. The acrobat evades the princess and tries to get a fist in once or twice and fails.

Azula spars with Ty Lee, brilliant, bold blue against pale fists. She wins in the end, knocking Ty Lee off of her feet. She points two fingers at the neck of the acrobat, and then stands back, smirking.

"I'm a wimp, apparently," Ty Lee sighs, looking at her feet. "Do you still want me to help you find the Avatar?"

"We'll have to practice more often," Azula purrs, looking less off-kilter than usual. She seems more sane when she is bending. Azula helps Ty Lee to her feet and both of them are surprised.

They stand, breathing heavily from the spar, looking at each other. Their lips press together, mostly guided by Azula. Ty Lee sinks into the motion, her body craving and her mind twisting. Her thoughts race rapidly through her mind as she slips her tongue into Azula's mouth.

Tongues intertwined, sharp nails digging into Ty Lee's back. The heat shared between their bodies bringing an uncomfortable yet oddly welcome arousal. Ty Lee thinks she knows how it will end; Azula does not. Azula's fingers slip up the inside of Ty Lee's thigh as she pushes her against the metal ropes of the ring.

They break out into a sweat, fingers fumbling, clothes slipping off. But Azula pulls away like she did last time, leaving Ty Lee in an overly warm and uncomfortable situation.

"Please no," Azula says, but then she returns to Ty Lee's body. Ty Lee slides Azula against the ropes of the arena and slips down.

Ty Lee is fully on her knees, Azula balancing precariously.

_Perfect_. Too _perfect_. Azula will regret this.

They do not stop, despite knowing how _wrong _it is.


	3. Only Hate the Road When You Miss Home

A/N: This chapter is way too long for my tastes (9k words), but it simply fell this way in editing. But if you hold out to the end, the last couple thousand words involve a shocking development, a chance encounter that's almost too perfect, and a chase in pajamas in New Ozai City past curfew. Also, I hope the rest of the chapter is interesting too.

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><p>Chapter Three: Only Hate the Road When You Miss Home<p>

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><p>"Azula, maybe we should talk about what happened," is the first thing Ty Lee says as Azula comes to liberate her from her cell the next morning. Azula scoffs in response.<p>

"There is nothing to talk about," she says haughtily, seizing Ty Lee by the chains that bind her. And Ty Lee is incredibly confused. This seems to be how it _goes _with Azula, and she is immediately regretting what she did with the Fire Lord. On her knees. In a training arena. _Agni_, she is _stupid_.

Azula cannot believe she let herself give in to the sexual desire. She did very little; Ty Lee did very much to her body. It was complicated to say the least. It felt wonderful, approaching and surpassing absolute ecstasy. But Azula cannot let it happen again; Ty Lee must be _expendable_. Old feelings must be set aside if Azula is to kill the Avatar. She is letting herself get caught up in foolish things meant for silly teenage girls, not formidable Fire Lords.

"It would help if we─"

Azula yanks on the chains the bind Ty Lee and the acrobat squeals in pain. A surge of an inexplicable nausea rushes through Azula's body as she inflicts the pain, but she _has _to assert control. If she lets her sexual desire and her archaic friendship overwhelm her, she could fail at killing the Avatar and retaining control of the Fire Nation.

"We have to go to Gaoling. Now help me pack our things like a good prisoner," Azula snarls, her lip curled slightly. Ty Lee gulps; she has rarely seen Azula like this. Once or twice she would lose it on their quest to capture the Avatar, but she is usually incredibly collected. Now, on the other hand, she is dancing on the edge of destruction.

Ty Lee will be pulled down with her in the end. They both know it.

They will drown clinging to each other. That was how it was meant to be, from that first kiss on the docks of the Fire Nation. That was how it was meant to be, from that last kiss when they were about to take off flying to the Boiling Rock.

And now Ty Lee licked Azula out. Good job, Ty Lee. Ugh.

"I have a few things to take care of. You sit here and be a good girl," Azula purrs haughtily, shoving Ty Lee into a plush antique chair. She does not have to assert dominance like that; she is already in control in every way. Or so Ty Lee believes.

Azula feels entirely controlled by Ty Lee. Of her burning desire for her. Of her weakness for her. The mixed up and jumbled feelings and the way she can find herself tongue tied at the blithering idiocy that escapes Ty Lee's perfect, rosy lips. Perfect rosy lips that feel so good against Azula's and taste oddly _fruity_ and sweet, with a slight acid aftertaste.

The Fire Lord finds her cheeks flushed as she tries to put the Fire Nation in order for her absence.

"Admiral Hoang," Azula says, looking at the man before her. Thirty-eight, handsome, in a relationship with an eighteen year old girl with a daddy kink. _Daddy kink, ugh, _makes Azula shiver. "You will be in charge of organizing the martial law. So help me if things get out of hand, _heads will roll_."

"You have the highest ratings since Fire Lord Sozin. I assure you, the people would rather you be in charge," Hoang says, bowing his head respectfully. The tip of his beard tickles his exposed neck and brushes against his ruby armor.

"I'm a lot prettier than Fire Lord Sozin, so it's not too hard to get higher ratings," Azula jokes lightly and Admiral Hoang does not know if he should laugh. But she is quickly handing him papers she drafted herself, detailing all of the work that must be done. It reminds him of his mother and father during his obsessive schooling to go into positions of leadership in the military.

Azula finds herself fantasizing about the forty-five sweaty minutes in the arena and realizes she has just made herself painful aroused in the presence of an aging man. _Ty Lee, I hate you_, is all she can think as she thinks about her flawless tits and big sparkling eyes and _agni, this is hard_. She is only glad she does not have man parts.

"Now that all of this is out of the way, I expect regular reports while I'm out hunting the Avatar. Is that understood?" Azula purrs and she wonders if he can smell any _pheromones _or something. She has so much regret for her one night stand she cannot put it into words, thoughts or feelings. Perhaps she should paint an expressive picture of her sexual confusion right now.

"Of course, Fire Lord Azula." And Hoang grovels, his lips touching the floor. She nods and breathes in deeply, her shoulders rising nearly to her ears.

"Then I will be on my way. Carry on." She exits the room and stumbles slightly on her feet. Yanking up her shoe, she burns it to a crisp. A servant gulps and stands frozen with its eyes wide, like a rabbit-monkey facing an arrow. "I would suggest you look away."

Azula tosses the charred shoe at the frightened, mousy girl and heads to father's bedroom. She breathes in his scent one last time before examining the trunk her servant's packed. If it is not done to her liking, she fancies she will have one of them executed.

All is in order. Now she merely has to collect Ty Lee, and the Avatar will be hers.

Like the good old days.

_Before all the _sex_._

Three miles away, Katara and Mai arrive in Capitol City.

"Okay, Fire Nation Capitol City, here we are." And Mai is grateful for Katara's words. They land in an alcove beside the pier, which is overrun by huge dreadnoughts and warships. Katara melts the ice they have been using as a boat and Mai tries to be sturdy. But her legs still feel like jelly. "We're both probably going to be executed."

Mai frowns. "Just trust me, Water Tribe," she says dryly before peering around the edge of the rock.

They are in a well concealed location, and Mai is queasy from a form of travel called _clinging onto Katara for dear life_. The thick red rock looms over them, a small amount of smelly sand beneath her feet. The water laps the walls of the alcove. There used to be a patrol here, and it may remain, and Mai realizes that Azula could have ordered this location staked out, seeing as she was the one to find it. But so far there is either an inevitable ambush, or Princess Azula thinks Mai is not willing to take the risk of returning to the Fire Nation.

"Come on, Katara," Mai says, gesturing for the waterbender to follow her. They climb up over the dilapidated stone steps and onto a boardwalk. Carnival games and endless officers of recruitment for the war. The Fire Nation confuses Katara to no end; it always has. "There's a seamstress who used to be a friend of my mother. She used to have a shop by the pier. If we can just sneak there, she should be able to get us new clothes. Then we just need to find my knives, my passport, and as much information on Ba Sing Se as possible."

"That should be incredibly easy as fugitives," Katara sighs sarcastically and Mai rolls her eyes. The water peasant clearly underestimates the level of safety and security the Fire Nation citizens feel. With the mind-numbing propaganda and overwhelming sense of security, they do not fear anything. But they should.

The two girls slip around the rocks and clamber towards the street. Katara wrinkles her nose at the surroundings; she may have grown up on a block of ice, but this area of the Capitol City is disgusting. The glittering lanterns and expensive homes advertised in cities are very different from the stench of pollution and decrepit apartments.

"I don't remember seeing _this _during the Invasion," Katara says, her brow knit in concern. She looks at a starving child begging on the side of the street and feels the need to help him, but finds herself with no means to do so.

"These are the slums. If we went down the main streets, we'd be caught. Nobody cares enough to enforce law here," Mai says with a small shrug. Katara turns to make eye contact with the beggar child again, but he is gone. She frowns, cheeks slightly flushed.

"How could the Fire Nation let their own people live like this?" Katara asks, frowning bitterly. Mai shrugs.

"I don't know. I was a rich kid," is the apathetic response of Katara's cellmate. Hmph. As the drugs wear off, Katara feels far less amicable towards Mai, even if they are set to save the world together. "Here's her shop."

Mai and Katara duck into a small store between two jewelry shops. They all look tacky and filthy, but this store seems peculiarly upend. Katara is altogether baffled by the Fire Nation, and has no desire to learn more about the despicable people and their deplorable leader, Fire Lord Azula.

"Coming," echoes the voice of an aging woman. Katara feels a lurching sensation in her gut as she waits to be caught. She _is _wearing red Boiling Rock rags. But Mai looks confident as she peers through the window and adjusts she and Katara to be masked by mannequins. "M-Mai?"

The woman standing before Katara and Mai is old, wrinkled and visibly tired. But her withered lips are parted in surprise as she lays eyes on her old friend's daughter and her companion with the strange coloration. Stunned speechless. Mai was imprisoned and her father executed. Her mother withers away in the old house, lonesome and disgraced by society. And now _Mai is standing in her shop._

"I thought you were in prison," the woman says slowly and Mai holds up a hand to silence her.

"It's urgent. We need clothes and fast," Mai says and Katara is surprised by her commanding aura. She takes charge and rises from apathy in a way that amazes the master waterbender. There is more to Mai, Katara thinks, than meets the eye.

"If I help you'll, I'll be executed," the woman says and Mai swallows.

"No one has to know. _Please_," Mai says and the woman nods gently. She hurriedly finds clothes that fit both Mai and Katara, and the two girls are soon draped in fancy red garments. They fit in quite well amongst the Fire Nation Capitol citizens, glamorous, but capable of fighting in. Mai thought the clothes through relatively well, as all Katara could do was gape.

"Alright, we get to my house now," Mai says as they walk out of the door, "clean up a little. Grab what we need. And get out. Go to Ba Sing Se. Get Zuko's uncle to help us."

Katara nods frantically. She is simply along for the ride, though she usually likes to be in charge. The two girls walk casually through the streets, although their hearts are racing out of control. Finally, Mai stops before a building that stands out amongst the others. Amongst the fancy manors of the nobility, close to the volcanic crater housing the palace, Mai's old house looks like one of the homes in the slums.

And Katara bites her lip. Mai shows no signs of emotion, but Katara cannot imagine she feels nothing. Even Mai is not that unfeeling. But Mai simply knocks on the door of the house, choking on her saliva. She _can't cry_. If her parents are like this it is because of Azula, and she must force this anger and pain into her stomach and use it later when it can help her fight the Fire Lord and save the world.

The door is opened by a servant who drops the glass she is carrying when she sees Mai. The greeting mints crash on the floor, leaving sticky bits of red candy and sharp shards of glass.

"Just let me in," Mai says coldly, looking at the unfamiliar serving girl. She walks inside, Katara kneeling and helping the servant pick up the mess. The serving girl murmurs thank you to Katara as Mai heads up the stairs.

Her thoughts are overwhelmed with Zuko as she looks at where they slept together. Where he made her laugh. Where they decided they would marry and grow old together. _From now on, it's you and me, Mai. _She clenches her fists and heads into her bedroom. It smells rank, old and rotting and the dust nearly asphyxiates her.

"You miss him, don't you?" Katara asks and Mai does not know what to say.

"If we go to Ba Sing Se, we leave any chance of finding him alive," Mai murmurs, oddly open to Katara. And Katara simply frowns. She saw Zuko die. She _knows _he is dead, but she does not want to be the one to tell Mai that.

"It's going to be okay, Mai," Katara says, touching Mai's shoulder. They stand together there for a moment, quietly, warmly, together. "We're going to save the world."

Mai is less optimistic. Figures.

She changes the subject with, "My passport and knives are in here. Grab anything you think is useful."

Katara starts scrounging around the room. She finds the amount of pink and frills completely hilarious, but finds it inappropriate to comment on the topic. Mai opens a drawer filled with sharp projectiles and starts lining her clothes with them in a captivating way. Katara stares for a moment before gathering herself and gathering supplies.

The door pushes open gently and Katara snaps up. A waif of a woman enters, with curly black hair and hollow eyes. Katara instantly wants to hug her, but knows better. Knows that she is seeing the grief of a parent who has lost their child; there were many of them in her village. And not just that, but someone who has lost their mate. Katara knows that feeling. Her father does as well.

"Mom..." Mai's voice cracks. She stands frozen with an arrow in each hand, her lips slightly parted in surprise.

Katara touches her chest.

"I thought you were dead. Or worse," whispers Mai's mother. She illuminates the lantern and Katara tries not to recoil at the sight of the woman. She wears expensive clothes over a waiflike form. Her hair is greasy and her cheeks sallow.

"I'm sorry, mom." Mai's voice is mechanical and emotionless. Katara feels a slight stirring of rage, but silences it. "I'm sorry but I have to leave again. You can't tell anybody. Azula will..."

"You should have let her kill her brother."

"Mom..."

"She had your father publicly executed."

"M..." Mai has nothing else to say. She simply stares at the floor.

"You should go, Mai. I'm glad to see you're safe... but you should go," her mother says softly.

She reaches out and touches her daughter's face, as if she is trying gauge if it is a dream or not.

Katara could swear she sees a tear roll down Mai's cheek and _plunk _─ hit the floor.

Katara and Mai exit Mai's house, leaving a sobbing old woman behind. Mai has slightly pained steps as they head towards the ferry across the bay. It leads to a port that Mai says will not look too closely into the passengers on the vessels to the colonies. It is a trek and they have to be careful, but Katara is certainly used to this method of travel. Fast, quick and quiet.

"I'm sorry about your dad," Katara says softly, wrapping her arm around Mai's waist. Mai swallows. She does not know what to say.

"I feel bad," Mai suddenly says and Katara is startled. "I feel bad because I hated them so much. And now I..."

Katara purses her lips. "I know how you feel. I was _so _angry at my d─"

"No." Mai's voice is strong and vehement. She shakes Katara off of her and stands with her arms crossed. "No you don't know what it's like. My parents used me to claw their way into political power. When I acted out or tried to have fun or showed emotion, they would beat me. My earliest memories are of my mom putting her make-up over the bruises my dad left."

Katara touches her chest. She has no words. Hakoda and Kya would never do such a thing to her. She was livid when Gran-Gran spanked her as a child. It seemed like... it seemed like something the Fire Nation would do.

"But I feel responsible for what happened to them. I regret it and I don't know why." Mai has the sensation to run back into the Capitol, find Zuko and save her mother from her well of despair. But right now she has to plunge forward and save the world from the nation she was raised to love more than her own life.

"You're not responsible." Silence. Maybe Katara is right. "The enemy is responsible."

And Katara is reminded for a moment of Jet.

She sincerely hopes she does not become him.

Because she is starting to sound a little like the late leader of the Freedom Fighters.

Azula is doing target practice to try to clear her mind. She has the miniscule targets lined up on the stone wall as she conjures lightning and hits each one every time. The metal points melt and drip, hot and sizzling against the floor.

_Agni_, she needs to clear her mind. She caved into carnal desire like she should not have. As soon as they were finished, pulling breathless, sweaty bodies apart, Ty Lee rising from her knees and Azula with her back still arched, Azula had her prisoner sent back to her room. She could not face her.

It has only made her more unstable. The paranoia is all encompassing. _Father was right. Father was _always _right. She is a distraction. The worst kind of distraction._

"Your highness," comes a voice behind Azula. She knocks out the next target and turns to face her bearded advisor. "We have the reports from Gaoling."

Azula clears her thoughts and turns to face him. "Tell me what you've uncovered."

"We think that there's a rogue firebender helping the Avatar. He was causing problems in the town. But they fled days before we invaded. Almost as if they knew."

"Well then I suppose we have a little problem on our hands. Prepare the royal procession to Gaoling. We have an Avatar to catch." Smirk.

"But, uh, your highness..." The bearded advisor gulps. Azula's eyes narrow and he breaks out in a sweat.

"Yes?" Azula asks, tossing one of her bangs.

"Your old acquaintance Mai and the waterbender have escaped the Boiling Rock."

In a flash of lightning, the advisor falls dead, charred and lifeless.

His open, unmoving eyes stare at Azula as they glaze over with air.

She gazes at his corpse with a thousand yard stare.

_No_.

General Iroh is hard at work. He is trying to repel the Fire Nation from Full Moon Bay. They have been sinking ships and General Iroh has put Ba Sing Se on even more of a lockdown. No one in; no one out. He looks through the endless scrolls of reports from scouts and soldiers trying to take back the Earth Kingdom.

It is not going well.

"Iroh, old friend, you're working yourself too hard," Piandao says behind him. He has one hand set on the hilt of his sword as he enters the war room of Ba Sing Se's palace.

"My sources say Admiral Hoang is taking military control of the Fire Nation for a brief period. The information on _why _is unclear," Iroh says, swallowing. He is losing it, he thinks some days. His military mind granted him prowess in his youth, but he spent so much time trying to forget that he lost skills he feels he needs.

"Admiral Hoang?"

"He fought with me against Ba Sing Se, years ago. A clever man and undyingly loyal and nationalist to the point of blindness. Azula chose wisely. I'm surprised he was promoted with his desire to remain subservient," Iroh says calmly, sipping his tea. It is lukewarm and he lights one palm to reheat it. "But what could Azula want?"

"I don't know. I _do _know that I have information on the rogue who can't pick a side. One day destroying Fire Nation supply lines, the next wiping out a group of Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe soldiers."

"The firebender," Iroh says, stroking his beard instinctively. He does not say to anyone his hopes that the rogue is Zuko. Azula would not spare Zuko. In that fight, only one of them was getting out alive, and one is Fire Lord. He grits his teeth and tries not to be consumed. Some days he thinks he is cursed.

"Yes. I'll hand you the reports. I'm meeting Sokka for lunch if you'd like to join me."

Iroh's stomach growls. But he shakes his head.

"Go ahead. I will look over these reports." He gazes in disdain at his stale bread.

In the Fire Nation, Azula is making preparations for her departure.

Azula wakes slowly. She is in father's bed, not on a coffee table or the floor somewhere. Last night she managed to sleep quite soundly, and this morning she wakes up to the inarguably pleasant sound of birds. The freshly risen sun trickles light through the windows, illuminating her pallid skin. She sits up, her body aching as she moves, and walks to the window, throwing it open and breathing in the air.

_Today_, she goes after the Avatar.

_Today_, victory will be sweet.

She slips her crown into her hair and examines herself for a while longer. Azula always was fond of her reflection; she cannot help but stop to look in every reflective surface. Perhaps it is vain, certainly, it is justified. She touches her lips, fingernail against flesh.

_Fire Lord Azula looks like a mess._

The lack of sleep is evident in dark circles around her eyes. Her hair unwashed for the past week that she has been training with Ty Lee to capture the Avatar. Her bones sore and her face sallow. Beautiful, yes. Intimidating, yes. But she was old before she learned to be young, and it now is evident in her sixteen year old body.

She touches the curve of her cleavage. _That _feels nice, if her dry protruding cheekbones do not. It is away from dresses and silk robes and to armor once more. And when she kills the Avatar, she will restore herself to her former glory.

"I must capture the Avatar to restore my honor," Azula murmurs in a jeering tone, placing one hand over her eye. Smirk. She looks in the mirror and sees those who came before her, and those who will come after her. _Fire Lord Azula. Fire Lord Azula._

But she _must _capture the Avatar to restore her honor. Not because father told her to. But because father is _gone_ and she feels that revenge must be dealt. Death should be _avenged_, not let to sit and _rot_ when there is not even a body to _sob _over. Avatar Aang will die in flames, burning, charred into a corpse.

Azula does not know that it has already happened. That his bones linger at the bottom of the ocean, and that his spirit lives in a two month old infant named Korra, whose mother was lost in childbirth, and whose father is about to go to war for General Iroh against the Fire Nation. But Azula's plans to wipe out the Water Tribes are on hold as she plans to attempt to murder the Avatar in the Avatar State before such _messy _plans must be accomplished.

Aang must be killed. If he is not killed in the Avatar State, then she supposes she must do as Sozin did.

_"What then?" eight year old Azula asks her tutor._

_ "What do you mean, what then, princess?" He looks baffled._

_ "Well, as soon as the airbenders were wiped out, Fire Lord Sozin would have to kill both Water Tribes. And then what? After the Water Tribes are dead and their corpses _frozen _over, then what? Burn the Earth Kingdom? Kill off the firebenders? The genocide of the airbenders was pointless," Azula says, holding one palm up as she speaks as if this is evident to everyone. "You can't just throw a flame with your eyes squeezed shut and hope it hits a little target. What then?"_

_ The tutor makes a sound in the back of his throat like he is uncomfortable._

_ "Well, Fire Lord Azulon is making quick work of the water─"_

_ "The South Pole. Oh, yes, let's round up the waterbenders from one of the two poles, only giving the North Pole reason to ready their Avatar prematurely. _Not _that he's even there. It's incredibly unwise."_

_ "Um..." He rubs his neck. Sweat drips from his fashionable beard. Azula still does not have her answer._

_ "I mean, for all we know, the Avatar could have died in one of grandfather's prisons, and the Avatar is just in some Earth Kingdom village. Worse yet, the Avatar is in the Fire Nation right now. For all you know _I'm _the Avatar. I mean, this is very ill thought out. You identify the people on the execution list before tightening the noose."_

_ "That's not in the textbook."_

_ Azula frowns._

_ "If it helps, princess, once the fire Avatar died, there would be no airbender parents to─"_

_ "Well, you know that's absurd. If two nonbenders can give birth to a child with bending ─ as I've seen multiple times within the Fire Nation ─ then certainly the spirits in charge of the Avatar cycle could summon an airbender."_

_ He clears his throat._

_ "Perhaps, princess, you are overthinking this."_

_ Azula goes back to memorizing notes. She is surrounded by _morons_._

"Avatar, Avatar, here I come. This obsession must be hereditary," Azula murmurs to her reflection, watching her lips form the words intently. She looks pretty. She _does_.

"I'm ready, princess," comes a high pitched voice from behind her.

"Who let the prisoner into my bedroom?" Azula snarls at the soldiers viciously. Their eyes widen in absolute terror.

"She... she asked to come here so we brought her." The guard shrugs. Azula rolls her golden eyes pointedly.

"Yes, _our prisoner _asked politely to come _into my room _and you just walk on in here. When I said there are only three competent people in the Fire Nation, I believe I was right," Azula says regally, sighing haughtily and waving away the quavering soldiers.

"I'm one of the competent people?" Ty Lee asks, grinning. She looks astounded and Azula supposes she is right to be.

"I didn't say _intelligent_. I said competent. Three fourteen year old girls were the only competent people in a Nation that somehow managed to take over the world," Azula sighs, unlocking Ty Lee's shackles and running a single fingertip along Ty Lee's hand. She shivers slightly and Azula smirks.

"You look like you're in a really good mood, Prin─Fire Lord Azula," Ty Lee says, smiling. She looks genuinely happy for Azula and it is utterly disgusting.

"I'm about to achieve my destiny and all of that nonsense," Azula says, as if commenting on the weather.

Ty Lee presses her lips against Azula's passionately. It feels wonderful, but Azula softly pushes her away.

"We can't do this anymore," Azula says and Ty Lee fights the urge to groan. So it begins again. Ugh. "I mean it this time."

_Like she meant it the other thousand times._

"Why not?" Ty Lee asks yet again. _Sigh_.

"Once the Avatar is dead, we're parting ways permanently. I don't want to get too attached," Azula says and Ty Lee is surprised at her honesty. But she is supposing that Azula will be slipping into her sleeping bag and she will just be expected to deal with the emotional onslaught like last time they went after the Avatar.

"What if I choose to stay with you?" Ty Lee asks, eyes like saucers. And Azula pouts slightly, lower lip jutting out. _She would like that._

"That's not on the table, Ty Lee." And Azula locates her armor as Ty Lee sits down on Ozai's bed and bites back tears. "This won't work out in the long run. We'll both just get hurt again, and who wants that?"

"I don't," Ty Lee lies.

Azula does not believe her.

Miles away, a teenage boy named Lee is sitting in a bar. He wears a hood and his lower jaw juts out as a dare, and his persona of a displaced refugee wanderer, he wears better than he ever wore the title of Prince Zuko. He has two scars, one from Fire Lord Ozai and one from Fire Lord Azula. None of the soldiers recognize him; he supposes that is a good thing. He finds it funny that he is searching for the Avatar again.

After all of these years, he wants to look for all that remains.

His old life.

Not the one of a pampered prince, but one of someone who had a purpose. A purpose to save the world.

And he hates Azula far more than he hates his father.

_He has reason to end this war._

Azula gazes out of her window, body trembling like a leaf in ice cold winter wind.

_Please let this work._

As Azula and Ty Lee prepare to depart, Katara lies on a refugee ship, feeling the water beneath the ship in her veins. The sensation of being able to bend is incredible, powerful and overwhelming. She absolutely loves it. Her eyes are closed blissfully as Mai obsessively paces through the cramped lodgings they have been forced into. Mai's passport got them passage, but the Fire Nation does not care for those heading aimlessly to the colonies. Two teenagers boarding a ship with a one way ticket looks incredibly suspicious, Katara has to admit.

"Okay, okay, Ba Sing Se, how do we get there?" Mai asks and Katara's big blue eyes flutter open.

"You've been there too." Katara shrugs. Mai rolls her eyes. So goes their relationship.

"I was driven there. We took a _boat _at some point... I think..."

Katara frowns momentarily, thinking of Sokka. She could certainly use him at a time like this. Part of her hopes she will find him out there, or even a tombstone. Anything to show that her brother existed, and accomplished great things. Iroh will know; he has to. That is why Mai and Katara are trying to get to the old tea shop owner as fast as they can.

"Why don't we retrace me and Aang and Sokka's steps," Katara suggests, sitting up slowly. Mai nods. "This ship takes us straight across from the South Pole and towards Omashu. We stop in Omashu and get a map and some supplies. Then we head to Gaoling. From there, north through where we had our first run in with you and your friends. I _think _that the Serpent's Pass is a few towns east of that forest. From what I remember; we were distracted and went in the opposite direction."

"The Serpent's Pass sounds a bit ominous." Mai crosses her arms and Katara shrugs.

"It's not a pleasant path to walk. But it will get us there undetected, and I bet you anything, that as soon as Azula finds out we escaped, we're going to be the most wanted people on the planet," Katara says and Mai has to admit she is right. So, the Serpent's Pass it is.

"I can't believe I'm going back to Omashu," Mai groans, flopping down on her bed. It creaks loudly and the people in the cramped room next door bang on the wall and shout for her to be quiet. She rolls her eyes. "Or, _New Ozai City_, I think it's called now."

"I'm not a fan of it either. It feels wrong without Aang," Katara sighs, gazing at the ceiling. It is chipped, cracked and dripping. This is not nearly as nice as the Fire Nation ship she stole after Ba Sing Se. In fact, it is utterly disgusting. Mai does not seem to care; she is lost in some kind of fantasy that she and Katara are going to save the world.

Katara wholeheartedly wants to believe her. She _does_. She longs for _hope _again, but she feels that _hope _is lost.

"I just want to be in the Earth Kingdom," Katara sighs. She truly wants to be in the Water Tribe. The South Pole. Gran Gran. Then again, it may remind her too much of Sokka.

"I hate the Earth Kingdom. It's cold and it smells bad."

And then they are silent. Katara closes her eyes and, as usual, dreams of Aang. But this time, it is different. She is walking along a path she knows all too well; the dug trail of snow that leads to where she would hang the laundry, constantly watching it to make sure it did not _freeze_. Washing Sokka's socks was so disgusting that sometimes she would intentionally let them freeze over for a nasty surprise when he slipped them on.

"Katara," comes an ethereal voice of an airbender she fell in love with. And she did not get the chance to tell him that she reciprocated his feelings. He walks to her grinning.

"This is a dream, isn't it?" Katara sits down on a hunk of ice and it is not cold. _So it is a dream._

"Well, it's a pretty good one," Aang says, smiling. She pauses for a moment, wondering why she is so _conscious_. Katara never was a lucid dreamer. "I wanted to see you."

"Did you make it?" Katara whispers and Aang's smile instantly vanishes. Vanishes like the Avatar did one hundred years before Katara was fortunate enough to find him. And now... now he is gone again.

"Let's not talk about that," Aang says, walking to Katara and sitting down beside her. She notices how he barely touches the surfaces he is on. It is like he is constantly flying. _Airbender_.

There will never be another airbender.

_Aang is dead._

"It's nice to see you, Katara. I missed you," Aang says, touching her hand. She glows and is instantly filled with the acidic bile of regret.

"I missed you too, Aang."

"It's up to you now," Aang says and Katara's eyes flash wide. "You have to save the world. I know that Mai seems crazy to you right now. But it's up to you. That's what Roku said and I think he's right."

Before Katara can ask any questions, she wakes up in the repugnant smelling bowels of the Fire Nation ship. Mai sleeps peacefully beside her, her face as expressionless in sleep as it is when she is awake. Katara exhales a long breath, and tries to remember the two unwelcome kisses she now wishes she had returned.

You never know what you love until it is gone. Of that, Katara is certain.

Ty Lee is certain of that too. She would dream about Azula every night in solitary confinement. Her eyes, her lips. She haunted her. And now she guides her onto a steel ship, walking down the steps with a variety of soldiers and servants, though it feels like the Fire Lord and her pet are in a bubble.

"You can stay in my quarters," Azula says as Ty Lee is guided onto the ship. It is regal, beautiful, and identical to the one that Azula picked Ty Lee up from the circus on. She remembers seeing a steel ship in the harbor and never expecting who would come out. And how happy she was to see her, to pull Azula into her arms. And to hope Azula had forgotten about the childhood kiss they shared on the Capitol City docks.

"Yay," Ty Lee offers, sitting down on the bed. Azula pulls the key to the shackles from her pocket and locks Ty Lee in place. "What... what happens if the ship sinks?"

"You drown." Azula shrugs as Ty Lee's eyes pop wide. "Oh _come on_. I would unlock you if the ship was sinking. I'm not _that _despicable."

"That's a relief," Ty Lee says honestly and loudly. Azula contemplates how very _different _they are for a moment. Maybe that is the attraction. Like Zuko to the water peasant. It would have been funny if he had let Katara die. Would Azula let Ty Lee die? Hmph. She contemplates it momentarily then pushes it out of her mind. She does not want to think about it.

"We used to play prisoner," Azula says softly, locking the door and examining her lodgings for the remainder of the journey to Gaoling. "Do you remember that?"

Ty Lee does. "With Mai."

"_Don't _talk about her," Azula snarls, shooting a glance that makes Ty Lee choke on her own saliva.

"It was a little disturbing. Prisoner," Ty Lee remarks, thinking about that out of the many games she and her friends played. Azula was imaginative, Mai had clever ideas to tack onto the princess's, and Ty Lee was obedient. So, of course, Ty Lee was the prisoner and Mai and Azula the captors.

"I thought it was fun," Azula murmurs, examining a portrait of her great grandfather hanging across from a Fire Nation flag. The _decor _in these places is so _predictable_. "Do you want to play prisoner again, Ty Lee?"

The derision in her tone makes Ty Lee squirm slightly. She sometimes forgets, after their days of training together, that she scorned Azula. And that she will pay for it before Azula sets her free at the end of their quest for the Avatar. But Ty Lee, the more she is with Azula, the more she does not want to be set free.

_"I'm terrified of swimming," Ty Lee squeals, staring at the water. It is cold and wet and scary. They are on Ember Island and the three best friends are eleven years old._

_ The three of them stand on a dock, looking down at the water. Mai's parents insisted they go swimming, and none of them are liking that idea very much. It looks deep and dark blue. Azula raises an eyebrow at the water._

_ "I'll jump." Her friends are startled at her suggestion. "It can't be _that _bad. You two stand here, and I'll get a running start. That way I won't be able to back out at the last minute."_

_ Ty Lee nods feverishly. If Azula does it and is fine, maybe she will be fine. Azula walks backwards, Mai and Ty Lee standing still at the edge of the dock. And she starts running, slender legs beating against the old and creaky boards._

_ As Azula is about to touch the water, Ty Lee feels a hand collide with her back, and then the sensation of ice cold water and drowning. _

_ "I hate you, Azula," sputters Mai as Ty Lee treads water. Azula is standing on the dock with her arms crossed._

_ "You two should have guessed." She leaps in with poise. And Ty Lee grabs onto her, holding her and not letting go._

_ Ty Lee never wants to let go._

Azula lies beside Ty Lee the first night, her ankle touching metal shackles. She is made uncomfortable by the heat between them. _Playing prisoner. _Touching each other. _In ways they should not have at such a young age._

"I can't sleep," Ty Lee murmurs, hoping she is not waking the Fire Lord. Azula smiles faintly.

"Want to play prisoner?" she whispers mockingly. But she _wants to_.

"I thought you said we were over," Ty Lee says as she feels Azula's hand slipping under her clothes.

"Like I've never said that before," the Fire Lord murmurs and Ty Lee has to admit she is right.

The feeling of Azula is nice, even the sharp point of her nails against Ty Lee's skin. But she knows that in the morning, Fire Lord Azula will claim that it was wrong and sick and they will never do it again. They will never be a _couple _and that almost physically pains Ty Lee.

Azula's lips touch her neck and she shivers. A slender body on top of her, pressed against her. Ty Lee returns a kiss on the lips, savoring the taste and knowing it will be sour in her mouth by morning.

_"We're too young."_

_ "This can't produce an heir, and that's all I care about romantically."_

_ "We can't do this anymore."_

_ "I don't love you and I never will."_

_ "Don't get your hopes up. We're just friends."_

_ All lies, lies, lies. Because Azula _always _lies._

The kisses are passionless, the caresses cold. They both are wet and craving, but they both are well aware of the inevitability of their relationship ending. Azula takes great pleasure in having Ty Lee in bondage, straddling her, touching her although she would be allowed to without holding her down. And the acrobat's eyes are slight hollow as Azula orgasms and looks briefly _sad_.

Ty Lee lies in bed awake and silent as Azula pulls away, tired and guilty, and falls asleep in a chair across the room. She tells herself it was just glorified masturbation and that she is _not _still in love with Ty Lee after the Boiling Rock. And the implications of the halfhearted sex leave both teenagers restless.

Due to the incredible sexual confusion, Azula reaches land and is grateful for it. Now a simple stop in New Ozai City and they will be on their way. She feels a slight chill within her as she realizes that she is retracing her steps from over a year ago. But this time, she is lacking Mai. It feels wrong, somehow.

Ty Lee is petting her mongoose dragon and murmuring, "Hi, I'm Ty Lee. You're really cute." Azula wants to tell her to stop it, but she restrains herself. She simply looks at what is in front of her and decides to start on her way, abandoning a royal procession and risking the entire Fire Nation.

Admiral Hoang better be doing a good job in her absence.

Azula slips onto her mount with ease, Ty Lee tripping slightly and blushing light pink. And they take off, wind rippling through their hair, like they have a thousand times before. Those long nights in the cold wilderness and endless days in Ba Sing Se. It was perfect then. _Azula _was perfect than and the only cure to her madness is to slay the Avatar.

She simply keeps telling herself that she did it once before. But if Aang could defeat her father, perhaps he could... Well, Azula is a thousand times more powerful than Ozai. And much cleverer. She could defeat Aang easily and she is well aware of that fact. She _will _conquer. She _will _prevail.

Azula wakes up screaming. Ty Lee jumps, biting down on her lip and cursing. The Fire Lord collects herself, looking around at the grungy canvas tent. It is cold and smells strongly of fresh Earth after rain. Ty Lee wipes a small amount of drool off of her lower lip as she watches Azula stand up and walk outside. The form princess is breathing erratically, and certainly does not look her best.

Ty Lee takes a deep breath, hopes she will not get burned for this, and crawls out of the tent. The damp grass is cold against her bare feet as she nimbly walks to the princess, who is pacing back and forth. Azula slips on the grass, catches herself, and sucks in air loudly.

"Are you okay?" Ty Lee asks, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I am─" (gasp) "─_fine_─" (gasp) "─I just had a─" (louder gasp) "─bad dream."

Ty Lee squirms.

"Are you breathing alright?" Ty Lee cringes as if something was thrown at her from the look in Azula's eyes. Her face is tear stained, salty and damp. Her limbs shaking more than usual. Chest rising and falling normally, but she is acting as if she is drowning.

"I hope so. I don't feel like it." Azula clenches her fists and they momentarily glow azure, but she silences them and spins around, sitting down with her knees touching her chin. "I'm just _sick _or something. Go back to bed. We arrive in Omashu tomorrow."

"Do you want to talk to me?" Ty Lee asks and Azula rapidly shakes her head. "It might help."

Azula needs someone to talk her down. She genuinely does because right now she feels as if she is dying, but she does not want her prisoner to see her as weak. Azula _dominates _and _conquers_, she does not _freak out _and _panic_.

Ty Lee sits down beside Azula without invitation and touches her hand. It soothes Azula slightly.

"I think you're having a panic attack," Ty Lee says.

"What do you know? You're _stupid_," Azula snarls before gasping twice. Ty Lee frowns faintly.

"It's where your body thinks that it's dying but you're not. My mom used to get them when I was a kid. It helped her to say that she was not in danger," Ty Lee offers and Azula clenches her jaw. This is not going so well.

"But I _know _that I'm not in danger," Azula coughs. She tries to stop her hands from shaking and fails. The adrenaline coursing through her veins makes her want to burn down the entire forest around her. But she does not; she simply gasps like a drowning person surfacing.

"I'm here." The words are low, soft and strangely ominous.

And Ty Lee does not leave Azula's side for twenty minutes, softly talking to the Fire Lord, who does not speak until her breathing slows. The memory of her vivid dream is gone, her psychosis melting. It would be polite to thank Ty Lee, but she does not. Azula simply rises, feeling much better, but very sleepy, and returns to the tent, passing out.

Ty Lee sighs. If only she could make Azula's pain her pain, she would feel that all was well.

She wishes that she could accept the suffering the Fire Lord endures like the lashes she accepted on her back. To steal it away and let Azula become the greatest ruler in Fire Nation history. When she crawls back into the tent, Azula is sleeping more peacefully than she has ever seen her before.

But the memory of seeing her with her pupils dilated and her words angry and childlike is burned into Ty Lee's memory.

_Please let me help you_, she wants to whisper. But for now, she is Azula's prisoner, and she will obey.

Mai and Katara arrive in Omashu early in the morning. They stand on the long stone path, looking at the steel and smog, the red Fire Nation flags draped over a city both of them saw as a feat of the Earth Kingdom.

"Did you ever hear the story of the Cave of Two Lovers?" Katara asks as she and Mai walk amongst a group of Fire Nation kids heading back home. They look distracted and drunk, and Mai's idea was that they walk with them in order to fit in.

"No," Mai says, shrugging. "It sounds stupid."

"It's the story of how Omashu was built. I guess... I guess it's pretty stupid," Katara says, pursing her lips when she is finished speaking. Mai frowns and then her expression fades swiftly, as it always does.

"So what's the story of the Cave of Two Lovers? "Mai asks, raising an eyebrow. She flashes her passport carelessly and wraps her arm around Katara as they are let inside. Quickly, she removes Katara from her grasp as soon as they are inside of the city.

Mai hates it. She hates being where she once lived and spent time, before her world toppled down around her. She almost misses the disgusting Earth Kingdom she lived in as _royalty_, instead of the even more disgusting Earth Kingdom she lives in as a fugitive.

"Let's find a map," Mai says, gesturing at a street of vendors.

"The story of the Cave of Two Lovers is that these two villages were at war. A man and a woman named Oma and Shu fell in love, but they were from warring towns. They met in this cave in secret, and had badgermoles that dug tunnels so no one could find their way but the two lovers. But one day, the man didn't come. He had been killed in the war. They were the first Earthbe─"

"You don't look right," says a soldier, interrupting Katara's story. She gulps when she notices that the man is looking directly at her.

"She's a bastard," Mai says instantly, stunning Katara. The waterbender blinks several times in surprise. "Her mother was a Water Tribe slave. And she's my friend, so I _suggest _you not get involved, asshole."

The soldier makes himself look very small. Katara still has eyes like saucers as he stammers an apology to Mai and is on his way.

"So these two lovers?" Mai asks and Katara shakes her head.

"It doesn't matter." She shrugs. "Maps, maps, maps..."

They find and purchase a map of the Earth Kingdom with the money Mai brought. And Mai brought a suspicious amount of money.

"I was thinking that you're kind of like travelling with Sokka. But you bring more money and less food." Katara laughs at her own joke and Mai's face does not even move.

"Was that a joke?" Mai asks and Katara doesn't respond. "Okay, so we have a stop in New Ozai City, then just starting heading east. Why is the Serpent's Pass not _windy_?"

"You'll find out when we get there," Katara says and Mai frowns briefly. "So where do we stay the night. I'm pretty tired."

"Not on a street corner," Mai says, glancing at a circle of prostitutes. "We'll find an inn or something."

And they do. Meanwhile, Ty Lee and Azula are also looking for lodgings in New Ozai City.

"Do you think they recognize us?" Ty Lee asks, noting Azula's hood. She shrugs.

"I hope not. I would like to go unnoticed as Fire Lord for, well, the first time," Azula remarks as they round a corner to a quaint little inn. It looks odd in contrast to the steel and industry of New Ozai City. Azula reads off of the sign, "Rustic Earth Kingdom charm. How _cute_."

"I heard it was fashionable to be into the Earth Kingdom thing."

"You heard that in prison?" Azula asks, pushing open the door to the inn. Even though no one knows the Fire Lord has just entered, Azula's presence contributes a lurking fear to the rowdy bar.

"A guard was wearing an Earth Kingdom headband," Ty Lee says with a shrug. "I did a lot of eavesdropping while in solitary."

Azula laughs falsely and Ty Lee feels stupid. They walk to the counter and Azula smoothly pays for their room, and seizes Ty Lee's hand.

"That went oddly smoothly for us," Ty Lee notes, feeling skeptical. Azula has to admit that she is right. Rarely, are things so easy.

"Let's just sleep," Azula says, walking into their room and closing the door. It is _gross_. Fuck rustic Earth Kingdom charm. She wants some cold steel and plush red mattresses. But she sighs and lies down. She glances at the shackles in her bag and forgoes them. Ty Lee is not running tonight.

In the room next door, Katara and Mai are settling down for the night. It is going to be a long one, and it is bitterly cold out to Mai. Katara, on the other hand, is sweating from the heat.

"I don't know how you lived on the South Pole," Mai says, wrapping all of the blankets around herself. "I don't know how I lived in the Earth Kingdom. I just want to be in Ba Sing Se."

She honestly just wants to be home in the Fire Nation. But with Fire Lord Azula, that is not an option.

Mai wakes up to auditory hallucinations. She could swear she heard Azula's laughter.

"What's wrong?" Katara murmurs groggily.

"I thought I─"

"Shh, shhh," comes a loud voice next door that is _immistakable_.

"Do you hear two girls?" Mai neglects to mention she thinks she is hallucinating her friends. That can happen, when you don't see people for a long time. You walk down the street and think you've seen them, but you know they are on the other side of the world. A hallucination.

"Yeah, they're probably having sex," Katara says, putting a pillow on the back of her head. A bit of straw falls out of it and Mai is disgusted.

"I'm going to tell them to keep it down," Mai says and Katara groans.

"And I thought I was the confrontational one." Katara sighs and falls back to sleep.

Azula is rather pissed that she is interrupted by a pounding on the door. She pushes Ty Lee away from her, the acrobat thudding onto the floor, and pulls on a robe. She contemplates trying to mask her identity, but none of these colony trash are going to recognize their leader.

"What could you possib─?" Azula's lips part in surprise.

And Mai starts running. She tears open the door and Katara shouts for her to go back to sleep, but then Katara hears the crack of lightning and the entire hall is illuminated in blue.

"Was that Mai?" Ty Lee is struggling to put on her pants, jumping on one foot. But Azula is gone, running after Mai.

They tumble down the stairs of the inn, Azula's bra on full display and Mai fumbling with her knives. She winds up throwing wine glasses that Azula melts with her flames. The entire bar is sent into an uproar over two half dressed girls locked in a fight.

"Well isn't this convenient," Azula purrs as Mai runs through the kitchen and winds up trapped in an alleyway. _Shit_. "I wasn't even _looking for you_. I should re-titled New Ozai City, _Windfall City_."

"Rematch."

"It won't be much of a rematch. You're out of knives." Azula summons lightning but it goes flying into a closed window as her arm is yanked back by a water whip.

"She has backup," the water peasant declares, and Azula is hit by a rush of water. She slams into the alley wall and Mai jumps away, heading into the kitchen to restock on anything viably pointy.

"_This_, may be a real rematch," Azula says, spitting out water and pushing herself back to her feet.

And so the dance begins. Water versus fire; the only two of their caliber locked in a fight. The streets are empty past curfew, and Azula bounces off of walls as Katara tries to knock her down.

A blade of ice nearly cleaves Azula in half before she melts it. _Well done, peasant_.

Mai starts throwing knives. _Steak knives_. Azula's heart races as she twists around, contorting herself to avoid knives of steel and water and wondering where her contortionist pet is.

And suddenly, Katara screams and hits the cobblestone with a thud.

_There she is._

"Let's go, Azula, let's go!" Ty Lee squeals as she is locked in a dance with Mai. _Stab, punch, miss, miss_.

"I'm not running." Azula kicks Katara onto her back and feels electricity coursing through her veins.

"I think you are," Mai says sharply and Azula feels metal plunge into her flesh. The lightning reverberates through the knife and Azula blacks out.


	4. Everybody Is Looking For Something

Chapter Four: Everybody is Looking for Something

* * *

><p>Azula wakes in a hospital. A shitty Earth Kingdom hospital, but a hospital.<p>

She glances around for her uncle or the peasant or _Mai_. But her eyes fall on Ty Lee.

"I got you out. I think they're still lying in the middle of the street," Ty Lee says with a careless giggle.

"But... you could have left with them. I was unconscious. They would've taken you with them." Azula is stunned. She touches the bandages on her arm and smells burn ointment. She _electrocuted herself._

"Azula, I am _never _going to leave you again," Ty Lee says vehemently, her voice constricted with emotion.

Lips touch hers.

All is well.

And Mai and Katara make it out alive as well, once their limbs start working again.

Azula has two new targets along with the Avatar.

All is well.

Except for Azula's nightmares and flashbacks.

Except for Ty Lee's shackles.

_All will be well, once the Avatar is dead._

"Well that was eventful," Azula sighs two days after her hospital visit, lying down on the sleeping pad she made Ty Lee unroll for her. Her arm still hurts incredibly. But the bandages and ointments are doing their job."They got away. We lost. If your reactions had been─" She is silenced by lips against hers.

Ty Lee kisses her, mostly because she does not want to hear Azula rattle off all of the things Ty Lee did wrong, preventing them from killing Mai and the Water Tribe girl. Especially after single-handedly saving Azula's life. Partially because seeing Mai triggered all sorts of _feelings _that Ty Lee does not want to deal with. She presses her lips against Azula's even harder when she thinks of Mai's eyes.

She straddles the princess, hands slipping over her body. Azula does not protest, though she knows Ty Lee is simply trying to avoid taking credit for her failings in New Ozai City. Their tongues intertwine in the kiss that is turning rather messy and heated.

Ty Lee pushes Azula down with one hand and Azula's hair falls loose. The crown of the Fire Lord rolls away as Ty Lee starts to undo the ties on Azula's bra, the ribbons swirling loose like her raven hair. Pressure of lips against Azula's clavicle, and then the motion of Ty Lee's tongue along the protruding bone, tickling smooth skin. The dampness leaves her craving.

She is almost motionless as the rest of her nightclothes are removed by fast fingers. The touch of Ty Lee's skin against hers fills her with a rather _hot _and_uncomfortable _feeling. A kiss against her navel, the trailing of a tongue down the smooth pallid contours of the Fire Lord's body.

_They have to stop doing this._

But it feels so good.

They lie there together, hands touching. When Ty Lee tries to intertwine their fingers, Azula slips hers away. Cold, detached, do not _develop feelings_.

"Do you want to go look at the stars?" Ty Lee asks as if Fire Lord Azula cares.

"You can," Azula says and then Ty Lee makes a face like a baby animal. Even the icy and brutal Fire Lord Azula cannot resist a face like that. "Fine, I'll see your_stars_."

They walk outside and Azula is stunned by the sky.

"I didn't know this was happening," Ty Lee murmurs, squinting. They are hastily pulling on clothing as if someone is going to be in the middle of the woods outside of Gaoling and see the naked Fire Lord and her lesbian lover.

It is a meteor shower. Beautiful, white lights streaking across the sky. Azula is captivated by it. She loathes and despises nighttime with a burning and fiery passion. The streaks of vermillion sunset are the closest to nighttime skies she looks at, because her breath feels constricted in the darkness.

_She rises with the sun._

"I didn't see the comet," Ty Lee says, lying down on the damp grass and staring at the shooting stars. "Oo, that one was fast."

"They all look the same speed to me," Azula murmurs, watching two soar by. "The comet was nothing to write home about."

Ty Lee smirks. She is a cute liar.

_Cute liars are probably bad news when it comes to relationships._

Meanwhile, Katara and Mai watch the same meteor shower.

"This is boring," Mai groans and Katara purses her lips. It makes her think about Sokka's space sword. "It's just hunks of flaming rock."

"That doesn't sound boring to me," Katara replies sharply and Mai rolls her eyes.

"So I'm pretty sure Azula and Ty Lee didn't come to the Earth Kingdom just for us," Mai says and Katara sighs. This is going the route of another business meeting. It is _almost _like travelling with Sokka, only gloomier and more sarcastic. _More sarcastic_.

"Whatever they're looking for, it can't be good," is all Katara says.

Mai crawls into her sleeping bag and closes her eyes.

She misses her friends. And they're so clearly having _fun _without her. Shiver. _Fun_. Sex fun. Shiver. Shiver.

Azula and Ty Lee ride to Gaoling at sunrise. They arrive when the sky is still slightly pink, and the air brisk and cold. Azula has her lips pursed as she dismounts her mongoose dragon and finds herself being groveled to from all directions. Ty Lee still sits on her lizard, looking nervous.

"Who's in charge of this?" Azula asks, glancing between the bowed faces. Slowly, a woman stands up. She is shorter than Azula but clearly older than her, and has lighter brown hair and peachy features like Ty Lee. Not the cold, pallid, dark Fire Nation looks. Maybe they are related.

"I am, your highness." She bows her head and gestures for Azula to follow. Ty Lee scampers after both of them, now on her own two feet. "We found something more interesting than the Avatar when delving into records of the town."

"More interesting how?" Azula demands scathingly and the woman gulps.

"A rogue firebender."

"I'm not interested in traitors; I'm interested in a pasty boy with a bad set of tattoos," Azula snarls and the woman looks as if she is about to vomit. She frowns faintly.

"We're under the impression the rogue firebender sent the distress call that was signed from the Avatar."

"You should have led the conversation with that," Azula says but then sighs loudly and airily. "Now tell me about this rogue firebender."

"The lore is that he's responsible for taking out our supply lines. We were under the impression that it was General Iroh's forces, but they say he's like the Blue Spirit, but with prodigious firebending," the woman explains, shuffling papers nervously. Azula watches with a stony gaze as Ty Lee fidgets uncomfortably. "Basically, he's doing everything in his power to stop the Fire Nation's progress. But it's just one man."

"What does he look like? Does he have a mask like the Blue Spirit?"

"No. Some people think he is the Blue Spirit," the woman says and the Fire Lord snorts derisively. She is surprised.

"The Blue Spirit was Prince Zuko. He's... out of commission," Azula says with a small smirk. The woman is stunned speechless. "Continue."

"He brags about his exploits in bars, then is gone by the next day. People say he wants to get caught. Others say he's just arrogant," the woman explains and Azula nods.

"Ty Lee, I think we're going to investigate a few bars," she orders, turning on her heel.

And far from Gaoling, Katara and Mai are finally at the Serpent's Pass, after hitching many precarious rides. The journey was long, and Mai is not impressed by _abandon hope_.

Mai glances at the inscription on the Serpent's Pass. She is _not _sure if she likes this idea. For two weeks she has travelled with Katara, which has been an exercise in frustration, but now she is faced with _this_. Whatever _this _is.

"I know the way across," Katara says looking at Mai's expression. Well, _lack _of an expression.

"I see boats." Mai cocks an eyebrow at Katara.

"You see warships."

"I'd rather stow away on a warship than do this insanity."

"They aren't going all the way to Ba Sing Se. The Fire Nation stopped attacking the city months ago; you heard the soldiers in the last town. We'll just be flayed alive by angry soldiers."

"So, this sea monster you keep mentioning..."

"It's not going to bother us."

"_Right_. Because everything goes perfectly for you."

"What's that supposed to mean, Fire Nation?"

"I mean that you and your friends constantly nearly got yourselves killed, Water Tribe. You aren't what I would call _lucky_."

"You can turn around and join Azula and Ty Lee."

"I'm starting to consider it."

"Go ahead. Get burned alive and see if I care." Katara shrugs regally and turns away pointedly. Mai rolls her eyes so hard that it hurts.

"Ugh. You are _ugh_. Alright, just lead the way across your pass, but if I see a single _scale _of something giant and _fanged_, we're stowing away on a warship."

"You aren't in charge."

"I didn't say I was in charge. I just don't want to _die_."

"We're not going to die."

"Azula wouldn't make me do this."

"Azula would have her daddy send you across on some kind of party yacht."

"Ugh_. Ugh_. I'm not even arguing anymore. Just start walking, peasant."

"If you call me that─"

"Just start walking, _Katara_. It's getting dark out and I'm not climbing sharp rocks in the middle of the night."

And so they set off onto the winding paths of the mountainous pass. Katara screws her face up in concentration every few minutes and they have to stop, as Mai glares at the water, daring it to do anything to upset her. It was a long time ago, and Katara thought she could remember it like it was yesterday, but Ba Sing Se was... ages ago. She wonders what it is like now.

"I watched the walls crumble from Appa," Katara says as she regains her sense of direction and takes Mai down a fork to the right.

"I was there," Mai sighs and Katara frowns. More impossible than Sokka. A thousand times more impossible than Sokka. And Mai is already missing being delegated to study the Avatar's patterns and untangle Ty Lee's braid.

"Aang was... dead." Katara bites her lip as she says it. And now he is again. Sometimes she has vivid visions of _drowning_, which is unusual for a waterbender. She can feel her skin burning and the water stinging against the wounds. She has charred arrows on her arms in the nightmares.

"I'm sorry for the thousandth time," Mai says with yet another sigh.

"Okay, I have a proposition," Katara says as they stand at the edge of a cliff. Mai glances down. Obviously Katara does not know where she is going, because this pass is a _straight line_ and they have gotten lost four times today. "Every time you sigh, I'm going to add a point. If you make it through the day with under ten points, I'll give you a prize."

Mai sighs loudly and pointedly.

"_One_," Katara says and Mai sighs again. "_Two_."

"We're going to die out here. In the middle of nowhere. In the Earth Kingdom." Mai sits down, running her back along a boulder as she does. The scrape of rock against her skin feels surprisingly good. "_Straight line_, Katara. We shouldn't be getting so _lost_."

"It was a long time ago," Katara snaps and Mai rolls her eyes forcefully. "If you would do so much better, you can be in charge of getting us across the pass. Go ahead. I'm done. We're camping for the night."

She sits down across from Mai and they constantly avert their eyes to avoid looking directly at each other. The sun is setting over Full Moon Bay, over the warships and the blockaded path to Ba Sing Se. The Fire Nation isn't getting in, but neither is anybody else. She supposes she can figure out a way across the pass, if she can sleep tonight _without _getting eaten by a sea monster.

"Tell me a story, Mai," Katara says abruptly, sounding tired and distinctly different from her combative and aggressive self. Mai is staring at the stars, squinting from her uncomfortable sleeping bag.

"I don't know any stories," Mai replies, shrugging. She slips further into the confines of the sleeping bag and closes her eyes, hoping sleep will wash over her. But it does not. Every splash in the water is a gigantic beast.

"Nothing interesting has ever happened to you?" Katara inquires, gazing at the moon. She takes a deep breath.

"Not really, no," Mai replies so honestly that Katara snorts with laughter.

"I met you in a _hostage negotiation_, and you've never had anything interesting happen? When I was a kid, interesting was when the snow melted in the shape of something funny. That was... pretty much it. It must have been exciting being in a royal palace, in the heart of the Fire Nation," Katara says, feeling wistful about the day she met Aang and realized her life would be defined by events other than black snow.

"That hostage negotiation," Mai groans, missing the point entirely. Katara smiles faintly to herself, pale moonlight shining on her tan face. "Ugh, that was a mess. My life wasn't that exciting. I went to school and played with my friends."

"There was less constant threat of death, I'm sure," Katara says, pursing her lips.

"Yeah, I wasn't going to freeze to death."

"Or get killed in an inevitable Fire Nation raid."

"Those stopped after Fire Lord Azulon died," Mai states coldly and Katara is surprised yet again at her support for the Fire Nation.

"After everything your nation did to you, you still defend it."

"My _nation _did nothing to me. My best friend, however, tried to murder me with lightning. I never planned to betray the Fire Nation," Mai says with such emotion and passion in her voice that Katara sits straight up and stares at her. "I never should have been in this situation. If you're a good kid you're not supposed to become a fugitive or be in danger. I don't deserve this."

"You sound like Zuko."

They are both silent.

"Do you think she was lying? It's usually 60/40 with her," Mai says and Katara shrugs softly. "It's not a waste, I guess. I don't want to spend my life in prison. But if he's dead it will be..."

"I had a dream about Aang."

"How surprising."

"I mean a _weird _Spirit World dream. He said that it was up to us to save the world."

"We'll just hold the place until the next Avatar shows up in fourteen years," Mai sighs, squeezing her eyes shut. She does not want to think about the stakes of what she and Katara are attempting. "What are _we _going to do anyway? Two people against an empire? It's ridiculous."

"That's why we're going to Ba Sing Se. To be part of something."

"I just want to go home." Mai has said it a thousand times.

"I don't think your home is your home anymore."

"You don't just want to go back to the South Pole and live amongst the penguins?"

"I want to end this war."

"You're clinging to a dead dream."

They do not speak again tonight.

"Well that bar was pointless," Azula sighs, picking at her fingernails. "At least people had heard of him in the last one."

"Hey, look, a lake!" Ty Lee exclaims, completely ignorant of Azula's displeasure with their search for the rogue firebender. "It's really pretty; let's stop for the day. A vacation. You know you want to, Fire Lord Azula."

Azula sighs haughtily. Never were there _vacations _or _naps _or _games _for Princess Azula as soon as Zuko was banished and she became the next in line for the throne. Her attitude of desperation for achievement is what propelled her to becoming the leader of, well, _everything_. Then again, as desperate as she is to achieve, a break doesn't sound _terrible_.

"We can stop for a moment to look around."

_"He can't just ─_ _no," Azula snaps, pacing in the courtyard two weeks after the fall of Ba Sing Se. Always with the pacing, Ty Lee notes, feeling dizzy. "He can't just... He can't... That's not allowed!"_

_"Actually he can do whatever he want; he's the Fire Lord," Zuko says sharply and Mai snickers._

_"I think you should make yourself look very small, Zuko," Mai comments with a small, smug smirk, watching Azula's eyebrows shoot up._

_"No, no, play dead!" Ty Lee exclaims, pushing Zuko and nearly sending his face into the ground. "Play dead!"_

_"You are horrible people. All of you," Azula snaps, crossing her arms. "I am punching someone in the face right _now_. Make your cases."_

_"You can't hit me! I'm the prettiest other than you!" Ty Lee exclaims, stepping two steps behind Zuko. _

_"I think you should punch Zuko," Mai says with a noncommittal shrug. "I mean, nobody would even notice if you mangled his face."_

_"Thank you," Zuko snaps and Mai shrugs again, this time her shoulders shaking with silent laughter._

Azula is staring at the water, rather glassy eyed. Ty Lee is plucking flowers that she thinks might be_ weeds_. The Fire Lord looks distant as she thinks about the times when everyone was _happy_. Now there is only utter misery for all, and she wonders why victory is not as sweet as she imagined it to be. Ripping out her brother's fingernails brought no satisfaction. Running into Mai at that inn is a catalyst for destruction as she recalls the fact that they were _best friends_.

She glances up at her prisoner, who now has a bouquet in her hands and a crown of dripping daisies. How is _she _happy? Azula wants to push her into the water and drown her. But she does not. She has more _tact _than that.

"These are for you." And the flowers are thrust into Azula's face. "And so help me Azula if you burn this bouquet of flowers─"

"You'll what?" Azula accepts them with such vehemence that a few blossoms tear off in Ty Lee's hands. "What can you do to me?"

"I was being playful..." Ty Lee murmurs, but she figures she has already fucked herself.

They have found this beautiful place by a lake and pitched a tent in an idyllic location. Ty Lee did not think there was much beauty left in the Earth Kingdom after the Fire Nation started mining it dry. But they found a _place_, a beautiful place and there are flowers and she is overjoyed at the freedom. She was in a prison cell mere weeks ago. But now, she is soaring on a high of falling back into love with just the wrong person who is just right for her, and living as one with nature.

Azula, is just trying to sort out her next move in her revenge.

Of course.

_"So your father wants us to go play by the lake, like, what did he call us..." Mai says slowly, enjoying every moment of this. Azula's heart is still racing with the bile of rage. Zuko has his hands slightly over his face, expecting her to punch him at any moment._

_"Regular children," Ty Lee chimes in as if Mai actually needed to be told. "Play by the lake like regular children. It'll be fun."_

_Her hand seizes Princess Azula's, sharp fingernails grazing peachy skin. And they are clasped, causing Azula's eyes to flicker momentarily in a way that Zuko notices with scrutiny. Mai is well aware that there is something going on between them, given the whole _sharing a bed _in Ba Sing Se. But she is not going to point it out because she prefers her hair not on fire._

_"Play by the fucking lake." Azula kicks a rock and Zuko is struck by a brilliant idea. _

_"We can skip rocks," Zuko says a little too excitedly and Mai snorts derisively, Ty Lee giggling and Azula's raven eyebrow shooting up. "No, it's really fun."_

_"We'll take your word for that, Zuko," Mai replies with a smirk, shaking her head slowly._

_He blushes almost as red as his scar. The three _harpies _yet again leave him feeling uncomfortable and inadequate. It baffles him that Mai claims to love him and says surprisingly kind things when they are alone, but placed in a scenario with her two best friends, she becomes his greatest critic._

_Zuko is unhappy and uncomfortable. But he _does _like skipping rocks._

_As much as it will remind him of Uncle._

"I know you were being playful," Azula says, walking closer to the lake. She examines the flowers and tries not to show her distaste. Her goal is to _win over _Ty Lee, to dazzle her, which should not be so _difficult_. She manipulated her way into winning a century long war, all without the grandiose help of a pathetic comet. "They're... nice."

"You hate them." Ty Lee's lips tremble; she looks on the verge of tears. Azula takes momentary pleasure in the wounded lips and freshly salted cheeks, but she decides to play the hero and bore her way further into Ty Lee's misguided heart.

"You're overreacting," Azula purrs, walking very close to her. The only sound is the water lapping against the shore and the heartbeats of the Fire Lord and her pet. "I think they're intoxicating."

Ty Lee grins. She is so _easy _it almost disgusts Fire Lord Azula. But she simply pointedly plays with the flowers, and examines the water.

"You don't swim much do you? You should probably bathe though." Pause. Azula's eyes flash and Ty Lee slaps her own forehead. "I didn't _mean it _like that, Fire Lord Azula. I just meant that it would make you feel a lot better. You seem kinda... tense."

Azula grits her teeth. What she has to bear to get what she wants is absurd. But _why _does she want it? She could sleep with anyone she wants; she is Fire Lord. As if her father didn't _fuck _half the Fire Nation. This infatuation is _dangerous_. Especially when it means bearing the lunacy and optimism of a _traitor_ and _war criminal_.

"Look, we shouldn't be _playing by a lake_. We should be investigating bars. That _was _what we were doing," Azula says sharply, crossing her arms. Ty Lee shrugs and Azula contemplates chaining her up, but cannot bring herself to do it. She somewhat _wants _to be by this placid lake in the central Earth Kingdom, instead of trying to track down a rogue firebender or the Avatar.

But her obsession cannot be placated by sex and swimming. She must have her revenge, because vengeance is not simply a right; it is a _necessity_. Every death deserves vengeance, not simply justice or grief. And her father's death has distorted her to the point where she has descended into madness.

_But you were crazy before he died_, creeps an unwelcome voice into her mind. With a clench of her fists, she silences it.

"Come on. Swim with me," Ty Lee says, stripping off her clothes. Azula stands still momentarily, simply examining her prisoner. Tan skin, perfect body. She looks stunning, despite the scars from her imprisonment in the Boiling Rock.

"We should just get back to work." But Azula wants to. Why does she _refrain _from doing what she enjoys? She is _Fire Lord _now; she can do whatever she wants. And she thinks she wants to take off her clothes and swim in this crystalline lake.

Being a firebender, swimming is not her favorite activity. She does not dislike water, necessarily, but the idea of submerging herself in her opposite is less than desirable. Broiling baths at home, hot springs, that she can enjoy. But this lake is frigid and covers her bare, pallid skin in goosebumps.

"I'm freezing," Azula snarls, treading the water. She can see her entire naked body through the clear blue water. She looks _good_, despite the protruding ribs. And Ty Lee looks _almost _as good.

She leans into the water, hair drenched and dripping.

_"Look, skipping rocks," Zuko says, picking up a smooth stone and examining it closely. Azula sits on a boulder, legs crossed, toying with flames on her fingertips. Ty Lee is in the water, half dressed, splashing around desiring to be looked at. Azula is _not _looking. Not one bit. Maybe... maybe a little. _

_"It looks pretty unimpressive," Mai says, watching Zuko closely. He tosses the rock at the water and, lo and behold, it skips a few leaps across the placid surface. "Maybe a _little _impressive."_

_"I could do better than that," Azula says with a small roll of her eyes. Mai smirks._

_"By all means, princess, show us how to skip rocks." She gestures at the water as Zuko scowls._

_"Maybe I will."_

Azula's toes balance on Ty Lee's knees, skin against skin, water between them. Fingers touching.

"You look very, very distracted. You've been _super _focused but after bar number three you started getting... dazy," Ty Lee remarks, hoping she does not sound offensive. Azula shrugs, displacing the icy water around her. Submerging herself feels _counterintuitive_, as the world's greatest firebender. But the cold water feels nice against sore muscles and feverish skin.

She wants to ask if Ty Lee remembers a time when they were all happy. But it didn't exist. Azula is viewing the past in a better light than it was in. Resentment was seeded between a royal quartet of two siblings and two aristocrats and she can only allow herself to remember the few good times.

It is better, she supposes, than the usual state she spends her days in; preoccupied with pain of the past and present.

"This is not going as well as I thought it would, in all honesty," Azula says, leaning back into the water. Ty Lee tries her best not to watch the arc of the Fire Lord's back and instead focus on solving her problem. If she is going to free Fire Lord Azula from the shadows she is going to have to pay attention to her troubles and not her tits.

"It's hard to find someone who doesn't want to be found."

"_Zuko _did it."

And _there's _the answer. To all of Azula's supposed inadequacies. The fact that her father pitted her against her brother from the time they were children. Azula was born to replace an already living child, which immediately created two warring alliances in her immediate family. Ty Lee heard the story told as if it was an accomplishment. Born lucky. She was proud of it, but it was ultimately her descent.

Ty Lee is glad Fire Lord Ozai is dead.

She races Azula across the side of the lake, and lets her win.

Distracting her further is easier than trying to get her to confront that her Avatar mania is going to eat her alive.

And the distraction continues as they find themselves sprawled out by the lake, hastily and poorly dressed. Azula breathes in the sun and has to hand it to Ty Lee that it is kind of fun to take a break. Maybe she can think up a more sound plan than interrogating and threatening everyone in the Earth Kingdom if she lets herself relax. That was never father's idea; him letting her _relax _is absurd. But _she _is Fire Lord now and she does not have to comply to his demands ever again.

Azula props herself up as Ty Lee is talking a lot but saying nothing. Water drips from her hair and rolls between the breasts of her accomplice like teardrops. Ty Lee shivers from the cold water against her sun baked skin.

"Your laziness is actually quite nice," Azula says and it is the usual compliment from Fire Lord Azula; an insult in disguise. "Who would have thought that caving in to petty human desires could be nice?"

"Petty human desires, huh?" Ty Lee raises an eyebrow, blushing light pink.

"That wasn't meant to be sexual." Pause. "Unless you want it to be." Taunting words.

Lips meet forcefully. Azula's fingertips stray, sending shivers through Ty Lee's body. It is spontaneous and sick and Azula finds that her legs wrapped around a traitor of the Fire Nation all night is not what daddy would have wanted. It _is _making her walk funny, but before she can contemplate the effects of these trysts, she is on her back with lips on her navel and fingers on her cleavage.

In the middle of the Earth Kingdom, Azula fucks and no longer cares.

Things are looking up.

But as soon as she collapses in Ty Lee's arms, dreading setting up the tent while on this level of bliss, adorned with hickies and having contributed to claw marks on the neck of her prisoner, it all comes crashing down.

The memories do not fade.

The aftershocks remain.

Ty Lee watches Azula become engulfed by her shadows again.

Their bliss only lasts so long before she is met by cruel words as she tries to set up their lodgings.

_She tries._

The next morning, Azula wakes up to light filtered through red canvas. Her eyelashes flutter against her pallid skin as she opens her eyes and tries to get a handle on things. She is intertwined in the arms of her prisoner, which is not unusual. And her hair is still slightly damp from spending the entire day swimming.

A wasted day. Completely wasted.

She should have Ty Lee executed for tempting her into a _vacation _day. It did little to help her except make her too tired at night to panic. Azula takes a deep breath and pulls on some semblance of clothing, armor abandoned, and she peels open the flaps of the tent and walks out to train.

_Thirteen year old Azula is soaring, spinning and swirling on a sea of cerulean. _

_And then it stops. _

_She finds herself reeling as she lands the final blow. The barrage of blue erupting from her fingertips swirls around her brilliantly, boldly. And she sits down, slumped against a tree, looking at her maimed sparring opponents and smirking faintly at her flawless work._

_"That was impressive," comes a voice behind her and she is stunned to realize it is her father's. He _never _compliments her. There is always something she could have done better._

_"I was only ─ um ─ thank you, father." Azula turns around, sweat dripping from her body, and sees her father. He was passing by on his way through the palace and he meant to see how her work was doing._

_"But your footsteps were heavy. If you were fighting Earthbenders you would be screwed," father says and Azula swallows. She does not know what she is supposed to do about that. "I'll teach you something. Come on, before I lose interest."_

_Of course he must modify his words with _disinterest_. Because it would be so obscene for Fire Lord Ozai to be _interested _in the well being of his only child. But Azula nods, grateful for what he can teach her._

_The Fire Lord is _supposed _to be the best firebender in the Nation. Azula is not entirely sure if it always works out like that, given Zuko being born with such lackluster bending, but Azula has never seen her father bend more than the flames around the throne. His critiques are always helpful, though, so she supposes she must hand that to him._

_Uncle she has seen bend. Uncle... is impressive, even to Azula._

_It only justifies Azula's two year change of crown more._

_She finds herself in a parlor room with her father. It lacks the singed curtains of the rooms Azula spends more time in, and it is strangely _cold _despite the insufferable heat of the Fire Nation._

_Wordlessly, her father seizes a vase and tosses it to the floor. She jumps at the sound of it shattering. He purses his lips at her flinch; it is unbecoming of his weapon._

_"Take off your shoes," Fire Lord Ozai says and Princess Azula cocks an eyebrow at him._

_"Why, father?" Azula asks._

_"I'm fixing your problem. No bender will be able to stand a chance against you if you take off your shoes like I'm asking you to do."_

_And Azula does._

_"Now step on the glass."_

_She steps backwards instead. "You're kidding."_

_"Don't think about the pain. Just step on the glass and go through the motions I tell you."_

_Taking a deep breath, she practices firebending barefoot on broken glass. Her feet bleed profusely as she winces with each flame, finishing her performance with a bolt of lightning past her father, imagining it going through his chest. And she finally takes a deep breath and steps off, glass still stuck in her smooth feet. So much for the delicate, unscarred body of royalty._

_He takes her in his arms and guides her to a chair, ordering a servant to remove the glass._

_"We'll repeat this tomorrow until the motions stick."_

_Azula grimaces._

"That was beautiful," Ty Lee says, emerging from the tent. She watches Azula dance on what seems like air as she conjures brilliant blue flames that stain the morning sky. The sun is bright and luminous, the sky cloudless and the air crisp and damp.

"I don't do it to impress you," Azula says feebly. She has always liked the gaze of Ty Lee on her bending, pretending it was about jealousy. But truthfully, Ty Lee was always captivated by the shift in her friend. The carefree focus, the way she melted from woman into flame. The dancer becomes the dance.

"Well, I'm impressed anyway, Fire Lord Azula," Ty Lee chirps with a small shrug. "Do you want tea or something? Or do you just want to get to the next town? You had a good feeling about─"

"Sh." Azula sits down beside the charred remains of last night's fire. "We'll go to the next town when I say we go to the next town."

"But... do you want some tea?" Ty Lee insists, her words so tender and maternal that it sickens Azula. She _hates _anything to do with _mothers_.

"I suppose." Azula shrugs. She lights the fire with a small motion, careless. It burns vibrant azure before fading to a crackling red and orange.

Ty Lee makes tea with surprising ease. Azula is glassy eyed again and the acrobat focuses intently on her task. She hopes to rouse the Fire Lord into _some _kind of reaction other than her usual thousand yard stare. It is a little disturbing, to tell the truth.

"Here you go," Ty Lee says, passing her a tin cup. Azula takes it, sipping it without burning her tongue. Ty Lee obsessively blows on hers, protuberant eyes studying Fire Lord Azula closely. "Are you feeling any more optimistic about the next town over?"

"No. We're clearly dealing with someone trained by the Fire Nation's military. They're clever enough to screw me. They're clever enough to go undetected," Azula says, setting down her empty tea cup on its side. A few drops remaining dribble out onto the verdant grass.

Azula thinks occasionally it could be Zuko. He was never trained by the military, therefore some of the moves are uncharacteristic, but Zuko is the only traitor she can imagine doing this. Perhaps she just thinks too highly of her own people.

"I have an idea," Ty Lee says, her mouth dry already from trying to cool her tea.

"I'm listening," Azula says, although she doubts the success of one of _Ty Lee's _ideas.

"Ambush. Trap. Obviously this guy is trying to take down the Fire Nation presence. So we give him a Fire Nation presence a little hard to resist."

"I'm not sacrificing my resources." And then Azula realizes what she is saying. "I'm also not being _bait _in a half-assed trap."

"How could they resist. There's a reason we're sleeping in tents and walking around in hoods. A lot of people would like to get their hands on the Fire Lord."

Azula has to admit the idea might just be crazy enough to work.

"I suppose it will have to do. I find myself bored of interrogations anyway."

"Yay!" Ty Lee claps.

"So," Mai says, many miles away from her scheming ex-best friends, plucking through a stack of rocks by the bank of the sudden stop in the Serpent's Pass, "are you going to waterbend us across or should I take off my shoes?"

"Just _stop _it," Katara groans, gazing at the water in front of her. She recalls the emerald sheen of the serpent with a small shudder. "This is where the sea monster lives."

"Joyous," Mai says, finding the type of rock she was looking for. Smooth and round.

"What are you doing with that?" Katara asks, summoning a water whip. Mai holds up her hands in surrender.

"Zuko taught me how to skip rocks last year. When... he wasn't... well, you know. It's pretty cool," Mai says, quickly dodging Katara's whip and tossing the stone. It skips across the surface of the water and Katara catches it in a bubble.

"Well now you've definitely woken up the serpent," Katara sighs.

Mai shrugs.

_Probably not worth it, _she realizes as the water starts to shift.

Katara's eyes bulge.

And she was expecting a sea monster.

"Who's he and why are you making that face?" Mai demands with knives drawn.

Katara does not know what to say.

"Pakku?" she breathes, rubbing her eyes.

It _is _Pakku.


	5. Under the Same Moon

Chapter Five: Under the Same Moon

* * *

><p>Zuko wakes up in an another uncomfortable bed. His mouth is filled with straw from gnawing on his pillow in his sleep. He walks down for breakfast in the same grungy bar he spent the entire night, settling in the corner. The cute waitress comes over and pours him a cup of tea. He attempts a smile at her and fails.<p>

"The Fire Nation soldiers have been expunged from Full Moon Bay," the waitress says, and Zuko is used to people assuming what side he is on. He supposes with a scar like his, it is hard to imagine him ever supporting the Fire Nation. He did once; he regrets it now. "Apparently two waterbenders and General Iroh himself drove them out."

"That's good news for Ba Sing Se," Zuko says, though he can only focus on _General Iroh_. He wishes he could go to Uncle, but right now he needs to find his own destiny. That destiny includes finding Aang and defeating Azula; he is sure of that.

He escaped. Azula tortured him for days, but he escaped. At first he thought it was one of her traps; there are no wanted posters, no one looking for him. She told them all he was dead, and, for some reason, she had mercy when she was about to land the final blow. She claimed it was for purposes of interrogation, but it was something else and Zuko knows it.

Zuko watches the waitress move to get his drink. She is stopped by a woman, slender and beautiful, with moon white skin and thick raven hair. Zuko feels as if she is _familiar _to him, but he cannot place her. His first thought is of the girl he went on a date with in Ba Sing Se, but the moment she turns around, she is instantly recognizable.

Jun the Bounty Hunter. Exactly what Prince Zuko needs.

She sits down in front of him, kicking up her legs on the table. Her boot clad feet are directly in his face.

"You were surprisingly easy to find, _Lee_," Jun says, laughing to herself.

"Who sent you? Where are they?" Zuko demands, glancing around. "I'm _dead_. That's the official story."

"I expected to find a grave. Fire Lord Azula isn't notorious for her mercy. But, nope, Prince Zuko alive and well. Somebody was unconvinced that you had bitten the dust, and offered a sum I'm quite satisfied with," she says as the waitress brings her two glasses of hard liquor. Zuko glances around for an escape, an, exit, and realizes what Jun knew when she came in: he cannot draw attention to himself.

"Azula sent you?"

"Look, I like money as much as the next person, but I'm not _that _low."

"Who sent you, then?"

"Your creepy grandpa. He wanted to know if you were dead or not and I happened to stumble into Ba Sing Se," Jun says smoothly, swirling her drink around and downing it in one gulp. "So what do I tell him? I get my reward either way."

Zuko clenches his fists. He never was too good at inner conflict.

"I have to think about it," Zuko says, feeling oddly... distrustful. It feels unlike Uncle, unless Jun sweet talked him into it which is... doubtful. It _feels _like something Azula would do, but if Azula wanted him dead, he would be dead and he knows it, as much as it sickens him.

_"Appeal to his love for his uncle. It makes him weak," her employer says. Jun squints at them, trying to figure out a tell. But they do not let it on. "A lot of things make him weak, but if you tell him Iroh sent you, he'll do as you please."_

_"Look, you pay, I get him here. I'm good at what I do," Jun says, cocking an eyebrow. Her employer looks annoyed briefly, but averts their eyes._

_"I expect him in three days."_

"Why don't you sleep on it?" Jun offers, eyeing the prince closely. How he made it out alive baffles her, but she isn't an expert on politics.

"I... I think I will..." Zuko rubs his neck.

Several miles away, Ty Lee squeals, "We are going to set the best trap ever!"

"I have to tell you something, Ty Lee," Azula says, breaking free of her and locating her clothes. Soon this will end, and she might as well come clean. "My brother is alive."

"I thought you..." Ty Lee rather impressively mimes Azula hitting Zuko with a bolt of lightning.

"I _did_. But he lived. I have my reasons and they are not your concern. He's alive and I'm half expecting this rogue firebender to be him," Azula says, surprised at her honesty. It would have been easier to just keep lying and she does not _like _the feeling of telling the truth. It makes her stomach twist.

Ty Lee pauses. She does not know how to react to Azula's _honesty_. Encouraging her could make the situation worse, as could ignoring it. So, she blurts out, "Can I braid flowers in your hair?"

Azula hesitates. She has been feeling better now that she has a plan; she is quite enjoying the sex and solitude of her mission. She can... pretend, she supposes. But when you pretend, there is much you lose. Azula is too much of an overachiever to spend these days by the lake, in the filthy Earth Kingdom, when she should be running her nation.

But the escape is beautiful. The nightmares remain.

"I don't see why not," Azula says coldly, and she crawls across the floor of the canvas tent. The wind billows through the parted entry, the water on the lake rippling in the breeze.

Ty Lee attempts to undo Azula's hair and fails. "You've never let me do this before."

"Well, you braided _lice _into Mai's hair..." Azula replies with a small smirk. "It used to take servants hours to do it; I don't expect much from this."

It falls around her body as Ty Lee gently sets the crown on Azula's lap. It grazes the inside of her thigh and Azula tenses. She takes a deep breath and watches Ty Lee pluck the flowers from her satchel and start braiding. It feels oddly... nice.

Ty Lee thinks what she will say next may upset Azula, but she supposes her freedom is set once the trap works. Once Azula has her answers, her closure, Ty Lee is free to go wherever she wants. But honestly, she wants to stay by this lake for the rest of her life, in this grungy tent, with this half dressed Fire Lord making scathing remarks.

"Let's just run away here," Ty Lee murmurs and Azula smirks. She is _cute_, if stupid.

"I worked my entire life for the throne of the Fire Nation." Taking things too seriously, of course. It almost feels like the old days to Ty Lee. Before everything was destroyed.

"Okay, okay, let's build a house here. And when you're not _Fire Lording_, you can come here with me," Ty Lee says blithely, twisting the first flower in. It is a shade of bluish-purple, with a bright green stem. "A getaway for the Fire Lord."

Azula does not respond and Ty Lee is concerned she has offended her. She has been gradually working Azula for the past two days at the lake, and it seems to be making progress. She still wakes up screaming, and is relatively unpleasant to be around, but Ty Lee thinks she is making dents in the wall Azula puts up around herself. All is going as planned for Ty Lee; and soon all will be going as planned for Azula. Perfection.

"I thought you were parting ways as soon as I awarded you your freedom," Azula says, chewing on her lip. Her throat feels constricted for some reason and she does not understand her _emotions_. She has not understood them for over a year and they are starting to control her.

"Maybe someday we'll both come back here. And just disappear for a while. Meet again. It would be nice," Ty Lee murmurs, twisting in another flower.

"I'll tentatively agree to that," Azula says softly.

"I'm wondering something, Azula," Ty Lee says and her tone sounds _serious _and not _jovial_, which concerns Fire Lord Azula. "Do you want your father to be Fire Lord?"

"He's dead. It doesn't matter." Bitterness. Ty Lee weaves in another flower and tugs at Azula gently, keeping her from storming off. She pretends she did not try, and Ty Lee allows her.

"Rulers reign. They reign and then they die. That's the natural order of things."

"His death was untimely. He was _murdered_."

"How many Fire Lords gained power through murdering their _own_ parent?"

"Thirteen," Azula replies, picking at her sharp fingernails.

"You know that off the top of your head?" Ty Lee asks, laughing. Azula's brand of insanity is perfect for her, though she is far too afraid to admit it.

"I fantasized about killing him a few times," Azula replies cavalierly with a mirthless laugh.

"Sounds like you elaborately plotted it," Ty Lee giggles and Azula wants to slap her. But she sits still and allows her hair to be braided nicely. "You're Fire Lord now."

"And I should be happy, I'm aware," Azula says bitterly and Ty Lee gulps. All was going well until this moment. She just continues braiding, trying to focus on Fire Lord Azula's raven hair and not her barbed tongue. "I loved him. I don't know why, but I loved him."

Ty Lee finishes the braid, smirking faintly at how unusual Azula looks draped in flowers. The tent billows in the light but chilly Earth Kingdom wind and she wonders if she should kiss the Fire Lord, but she does not. Azula turns around and chews on her lip.

"I want my revenge, Ty Lee. Then I'll be happy to reign," she says coldly and Ty Lee shrugs.

_"Revenge is the purest of motives, little princess. Always trust those who are in need of revenge," father says and Azula wholeheartedly believes him._

_ He combs her hair like she is a doll. That was always what she was to her father; a doll. _

_ "Revenge is not a privilege; it is a right and an absolute duty," father continues, combing out a rough spot with harsh hands. Azula bites her lip to keep from crying. "They say revenge is a dish best served cold. It should be served flaming hot and bright blue."_

_ Azula smirks now. She hopes he is teasing, but she is not sure. They have such little time together these days. She is thirteen and already a weapon of mass destruction, and she has outgrown nannies and au pairs. Moments with her father are hard to come by._

_ He strokes her neck as she tries to force his words into her memory._

"The flowers look beautiful," Ty Lee says, before leaning forward and kissing Azula's neck. Azula leans in to it, moving her lips to Ty Lee's cheek.

"I look completely ridiculous and I blame you entirely," Azula sighs, as if Ty Lee's hand undoing the ties on her underclothes is boring to her. She manages to sound haughty and stuck up even when a beautiful woman is touching her tits. _Of course_.

"Do you remember the first time we did this?" Azula asks with a small laugh in her voice as she runs her sharp fingernail along the inside of Ty Lee's thigh. "I was terrified."

"I'm still pretty terrified," Ty Lee squeaks as Azula brushes her lips against her neck. She slides down the strap of her bra.

Azula does not admit that she is too.

Her thoughts are along the lines of:

_This is not okay. It should not be okay. It shouldn't be._ Azula takes off Ty Lee's bra fully.

_More important things than sex._ Slips off her skirt, carefully navigating the mutual motion of legs.

_The princess could never love._ Digs her fingernails into the inside of Ty Lee's thighs. She scrapes downwards and Ty Lee shrieks, yet moans afterwards for some inexplicable reason.

_She's going to leave you in the end Everyone does._ Ty Lee presses her lips against Azula's. Their tongues intertwine, hesitantly, not sure if this is something strange or normal sexually.

_Sex like this is the kind of thing Zuko would do. _She is pushed on her back, Ty Lee's lips on her navel. Given the circumstances, she would choose lips.

_Zuko is the disappointment, not me. _Azula exhales smoke and blushes. She did not intend for that.

_I can have what I want. Father is dead. _Lips on her hip. Gasp.

_Father is dead. Father is dead and I am Fire Lord and I can have all I desire. _Simultaneous climax.

Meanwhile, Mai and Katara arrive in Ba Sing Se.

It has taken a long time to reach this point. Katara can only think of the year she spent in prison after her failure to defeat Azula. She and Mai are led into the city by Pakku, who has not said a word. Katara wonders if that is a good or bad thing.

"Katara?" is the first thing Katara hears when she reaches the palace. Mai raises an eyebrow as Katara is tackled in a strong hug. She gasps for breath as she realizes she is in the grasp of Sokka.

"Sugar Queen... and girl who sighs a lot?" comes the voice of Toph. Suki runs in afterwards, stumbling over her own feet. "We thought you were dead!"

Katara pulls away from her friends, grinning. She missed them more than she ever imagined she was capable of doing. They were everything to her as she tried to save the world. As she tried and failed. And now their reunion is bittersweet; in the ruins of the world, all is well for the first time.

"I was so worried about you guys," Katara says, smiling faintly. Her face hurts from her happiness.

"I never thought I would see you again," Sokka says, his tone slightly dark. He smiles faintly at her and Katara does not know what else to say. "What happened to Zuko?"

Katara's smile disappears. Suki purses her lips. Mai crosses her arms.

"Oh," Sokka says, sounding disappointed. Mai averts her eyes; she does not like how Suki is looking at her. "We're glad to have you here, anyway."

As the sun sets, Katara and Mai are shown to their living arrangements. In the morning they will speak with Iroh, but for now, they are meant to sleep and try to regain some of their long lost energy.

"This was our bedroom," Mai says as they enter with a hint of... emotion in her words. Katara is surprised by her tender words as she recalls. Then Katara quickly remembers that they threw the Kyoshi Warriors in a prison to be tortured and then conquered Ba Sing Se. "They used to share a bed. Of course."

"You loved your friends," Katara says slowly and Mai shrugs. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"I don't love anything, Water Tribe," Mai replies, flopping down on one of the beds and sighing.

"_Three_," Katara counts; it is Mai's third sigh of the day. Mai picks up a pillow and throws it at Katara, who barely has time to dodge. "You have good aim."

"Yup," Mai sighs, tucking her palms beneath her neck. "We're in Ba Sing Se. You're all happy and reunited with your family. Everything is coming up Water Peasant Katara."

Katara frowns and bites her tongue. Clearly Mai has a reason for being so dissatisfied beyond her sullen self. It only just occurs to Katara that Mai doesn't have a family anymore, and seeing this must be painful. Sighing gently, Katara sits down beside Mai and tries to think of the proper words to say.

"Do you think we could've been friends if there was no war?" Katara asks, feeling foolish.

"I thought we were friends now," Mai says calmly, cocking an eyebrow. "We act like friends."

"I used to have a ─ oh, it's ridiculous," Katara says, blushing light pink against dark skin. Mai sits up slowly.

"A crush, huh? On Zuko, I'm sure," Mai says, rolling her eyes. "He wasn't that much of a catch."

Katara tries to laugh but a strange groan comes out of her lips instead. Mai says nothing, simply stares at Katara.

"Not on Zuko... I had a crush on... oh never mind."

"You're worse than Ty Lee," Mai says, snorting derisively. "Go to sleep, Water Tribe."

And Katara does, grateful for the soft bed and tall walls around her. She feels at peace for the first time in a long time, as she lies there beside Mai.

"So who's your crush?" Mai asks a solid five minutes after the conversation ended. "Weren't you all in love with the Avatar?"

"I was, but... I wasn't," Katara replies, feeling uncomfortable. "I didn't know. I wanted to be just friends with him."

"Because you were in love with Zuko," Mai interrupts, yawning pointedly. "It was pretty clear to everyone."

Katara turns bright red and clenches her fists beneath the blankets. "Actually, I spent a lot of my life questioning my sexuality."

"You thought you were a lesbian?" Mai snorts, her noble eyes glittering with amusement. "Well, I guess, the _fighting _and the... self righteousness."

"And you aren't?" Pause. Katara feels ridiculous momentarily. "I'm not implying, uh, well..."

"I had sex with Zuko _multiple _times. I'm not a lesbian, believe me," Mai says, raising an eyebrow. She did not misinterpret the statement in the way Katara feared she would.

"Wait... you had _sex _with Zuko?" Katara asks, stunned. Her cobalt eyes are wide as she leans closer to Mai.

"Oh, how surprising. The Water Tribe goody-two-shoes is a virgin." Yawn. Again.

"I'm not a-a _goody-two-shoes_," Katara snarls, livid. Mai is the absolute _worst_. She does not know why she even wanted to befriend her in the first place.

"But you _are _a virgin," Mai continues, her lips curled ever so slightly. Katara grimaces.

"Yes. But that isn't any of your business," Katara sighs, sinking further into the blankets. Mai laughs hollowly.

"So, who's your crush?" Mai continues. "It's a girl isn't it? Toph. No, not Toph... Suki. Yes, definitely Suki."

"Shut up," Katara groans, wishing she hadn't gotten herself into this mess. She tries her best not to look at Mai as she covers herself in blankets. Mai is snickering lightly and Katara wants to smash her face with a pillow.

"Fire Nation? Oh, is it me? Is it me?" Mai leans close to Katara, their hot breath intertwining in the cold night. "It's me isn't it?"

"No. Azula."

Uproarious laughter. Katara didn't think that the sullen and emotionless Mai could _laugh _that hard and Katara feels absolutely ridiculous. She exhales huffily and squeezes her eyes shut.

"That's... that's golden..." Mai leans back with her arms spread out. Her chest rises and falls with dimming laughter. "I get where you're coming from. But... Azula? She would find that so hilarious..."

"It wasn't a _real _crush. Aang was right for me. Just, ugh, never mind."

They do not speak again that night, Katara stewing in anger and Mai still in comic disbelief.

Miles away, Azula is ready to capture her rogue firebender.

"We have to move for the trap," Azula says as she starts to pack up she and Ty Lee's camp. "We had a _fun _time living in daydreamland, but we have work to do."

She sounds as if the light-years of progress made on her decrepit mental state were an inconvenience. Ty Lee supposes she could not expect more. But the flowers are still braided in Azula's hair, now tied and punctured with a crown to keep it out of her way. It looks funny in contrast with her armor, but Ty Lee likes it.

They pack up the small life they lived by the lake. It was beautiful there, serene. They could live in a bubble where betrayal never came to pass, and they could make love and pretend, play pretend endlessly. But now it is over and Ty Lee feels the wounds in her heart as she saddles her mongoose dragon.

And now they intend to trap the rogue firebender. It should work, Ty Lee supposes. But she wonders what will happen once Aang is slain again. If Azula will truly forget; if Azula will return to how broken she was before. If she will remember tender lips on her skin when she woke from nightmares.

"Everything is set?" Ty Lee asks, hoping to prod Azula into saying something. The Fire Lord has been unnervingly silent as they move towards the location of their trap.

"Yes. And we can only hope he'll lead us to the Avatar," Azula says, shrugging softly. She acts like she doesn't care, but clearly she does. Ty Lee is quiet after that, allowing Azula to lead her to what should amount to their victory.

"I'm sure it'll work. Your plans always do," Ty Lee gushes and Azula shrugs again. She does not look that well since they left the lake and Ty Lee is so _sick _of trying to figure her out. Maybe she will part ways with her after they kill the Avatar. It would be easier than watching her crumble more.

"I know," Azula replies haughtily and Ty Lee grimaces.

Meanwhile, Mai wakes up feeling surprisingly _safe_. She has not felt that way since she was locked up in the first place, and now she is in Ba Sing Se, soon to meet with General Iroh. Things... work out sometimes, she supposes. Not everything ends terribly for her.

"Did you think you were going to die?" Katara asks, her eyes fluttering open. She squints in the early morning light.

"You're going to have to be a lot more specific," Mai sighs, sitting up and cracking her knuckles.

"For Zuko," Katara continues and Mai purses her lips.

"I was pretty sure. I mean, what I did was punishable by death in the Fire Nation." Pause. "Azula wouldn't've killed me. But Fire Lord Ozai would've."

"Zuko was going to save her," Katara says, staring at the ceiling. Mai squints.

"What?"

"She was falling and he was going to save her. She saved herself before he could."

"Let's not talk about her." If Katara didn't know any better, she would think she detected pain in Mai's voice. She clearly doesn't hate Azula, but these feelings she bottles up inside about the Fire Lord cannot be _healthy_.

The two girls ready themselves feebly and walk into the palace. Sokka and Suki are in the war room already, arguing loudly. Suki is winning, which brings a small smile to Katara's lips. Katara sees Iroh and then feels herself choke slightly. She will have to tell him about Zuko, won't she?

"It is wonderful to see you both," Iroh says, though Mai can sense beneath his words that he was hoping Zuko would have arrived with them. She hoped that too.

"It's good to see you too," Mai says, taking the initiative to hug the old fat man Zuko loved so dearly. He holds her there for a moment, hand on her waist, and they pull apart. Mai swallows her feelings, as she was taught to do since she was young, and stands beside Katara.

_Don't ask about Zuko_, is all Katara can think, but her thoughts are futile.

"You two would know. Zuko... is he...?" Iroh asks, his voice cracking slightly. Mai feels the urge to vomit at the sight of Iroh's eyes.

"Azula says he's alive," Mai says before Katara can stop her.

Uncomfortable silence. Nobody in this room takes what Azula says as the cold hard truth.

"Maybe he is," Suki says softly, but her frown belies her words.

Mai's fingers twitch towards her blades before she purses her pallid lips and says nothing. They think she is some kind of _grieving widow_. Clinging to a dead dream like Katara is. Mai feels ridiculous and has to focus on keeping her feet firmly planted to keep from ditching the room of judging eyes.

As Mai feels ridiculous, Zuko feels twice as ridiculous, far from Ba Sing Se. He wakes to find Jun sitting on the dresser in the inn room, fully clothed. He _lacks _that aspect of his appearance.

"You sleep easy for a traitor," Jun remarks, her lips flickering with a small smirk. "Have you made your mind up?"

Zuko's hands rush to his chest before he realizes how stupid that looks. He blushes as red as his scar as Jun seems to revel in his discomfort.

"Yeah, we slept together last night," the bounty hunter continues, her eyes sparkling. She looks blissfully amused by the entire affair. "It wasn't half bad. Now are you coming with me or not, loverboy?"

Zuko does not know what to say, except, "Yeah. I guess."

Why exactly he is trusting the skeeviest woman in the Earth Kingdom, he does not know. But he puts on his clothes as she snickers, and grabs his bag of belongings. Zuko follows her with a little too much obedience, wondering who his uncle will send to meet with him.

Zuko has paid attention to the news; he has noticed how strong Ba Sing Se has grown. Uncle succeeded, everybody else was up against a foe much stronger than them. And maybe... maybe Zuko can overcome his shame, overcome his wanderlust and become a part of something again.

He blames himself for their failures. For Mai getting locked up, for the disappearance of his only true friends, Katara getting dragged away as he gasped for breath. How she sobbed and her tears turned to blades of ice before her screams were strangled into silence.

It is all Zuko's fault. He was the catalyst for destruction, his greed their downfall. That is how he feels. That is... how his life must be at this point. If he had just been a good son and stayed home, everybody would be okay. The Fire Nation was going to win anyway, even if Zuko tried to change fate.

He was too weak. Too weak to change fate and it consumes him. He can't face his Uncle and display his selfishness to all of the people he wronged. But as Jun and her shirshu guide him past swarms of bored soldiers, he thinks that maybe it is time to face the music.

"We have to stop here," Jun says, dismounting. She settles on a rock, comfortably above Zuko, as if she thinks she is so much better than him. Maybe she is, Agni if he knows.

"I really hope this isn't a trap."

"Yeah, you're not really the brightest star in the sky, are you?" Jun says, amused. "It would probably be in my best interest to turn you over to the Fire Nation. But you just walk for two hours with me without even looking behind you. It's no wonder you lost."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Zuko snarls and Jun laughs. He clenches one fist until his knuckles turn mottled red and white.

"The story of your failure has probably been exaggerated here or there. But I can't help but find it a bit, uh, funny. You always seemed so... stuck up." Jun shrugs as if the end of the world doesn't matter to her. "The Fire Nation won a long time ago. You think there was any stopping it? Only rich, spoiled people can think they have that much of an influence."

She yawns before Zuko can snap at her. It isn't worth it, he decides, although it enrages him. Bile and acid sting his throat as he can only abet his thoughts by thinking about being reunited with Uncle.

"If this doesn't work," Azula says, taking a deep breath.

"We both probably die." Ty Lee shrugs with an unabashed smile. Azula sighs. "But, honestly, _us _against a single firebender?"

"You're right," Azula says, her voice detached. "Just set up camp. We'll probably be waiting before he shows his face."

The way her words linger on face lead Ty Lee to believe Azula is fully convinced her foe is Zuko. Ty Lee wants to ask why Zuko lives, or why Azula seems concerned when she thinks about it. But she isn't as dumb as she looks, and there are certain things she does not meddle in. She does as she is told and sets up their camp as the sun slowly sets.

"Can I talk to you, Azula?" Ty Lee murmurs as they wait for the rogue firebender. It was all set up with the soldiers, the trap figured out. Now they just have to act as bait.

"There's nothing else to do," Azula says with a shrug. Ty Lee feels glad she broke the thousand yard stare Azula was wearing.

"I wanted to tell you, uh, I..." Ty Lee rubs her neck. She already is in too deep.

"Spit it out," Azula says airily, lying down on her back and staring at the sky. The stars sparkle so carelessly and Azula wants to burn them down. She used to be like them, a _supernova_, and now, what is she? What is she? She is Fire Lord and yet she feels consumed by a neutron star.

"I wanted to tell you that I love you. And I don't... I don't... I know you feel like nobody does but I do. And your father loved you too. Mai does too but she probably ─"

"Mai _stabbed _me with a steak knife two weeks ago," Azula interrupts, obviously not moved by Ty Lee's attempt at affectionate words. "You know I said to the Earth King something that I never stop thinking about."

"What?" Ty Lee squeaks, blushing pinker than her clothes.

"_It's terrible when you can't trust the people closest to you_, I said," Azula says, taking a breath like a dragon about to torch a village. "I was right. I shouldn't have trusted you people and it's on me, what happened. You're not _trustworthy _and I should have known better."

"Oh." Ty Lee does not know what to say as Azula stares blankly at the sky and she wraps her arms around herself.

"Don't get so hung up about your betrayal. You only made me feel like I was loved and wanted and then decided to reveal it was a lie. I'm over it. I'm Fire Lord and you're a traitor and that's... justice. I guess."

"Oh."

Ty Lee squints at the moon.

Azula cries herself to sleep and pretends that she doesn't.

Under the same moon, Mai is alone, sitting on the steps of the palace. She never really _fit in _before, and she never really cared about it. She had the same two friends for her entire life, and they were generally disliked by everyone, but no one dared to say anything for fear of _disappearing_. She started befriending Katara in prison; she thought... _ugh_, she doesn't know what she thought.

Katara, Toph, Suki and Sokka are laughing hysterically despite the fact that they could die tomorrow. And Iroh is up late drawing battle plans, the old men all occupied. Mai is alone, of course, forgotten now that she is not of use to the heroes anymore.

She did miscalculate. She would do it again ten times over but... she guesses she misses them. It was easy to wear a tough face in prison and have an all out war between Ty Lee and her cronies with Katara at her side. But now Katara is back with her clique and Mai is, of course, no longer anybody.

That's how Azula _manipulated _people, made them think they were special and important. Or maybe she really thought Mai was special and important. She isn't ever going to know, she guesses.

Tonight she is going to leave. Ba Sing Se was fun while it lasted. But Mai is obviously no longer wanted.

_"Guys, I have to train," twelve year old Azula says, feeling frustrated. Mai and Ty Lee follow her out of the Fire Nation Ladies Academy as they do every day. They seem __expectant__. "I can't play. I'm too old for that now, apparently."_

_ Mai pauses. Ty Lee is still walking after Azula as she breaks free of Mai's hand, which she had been forcibly holding. Mai recalls when she first went to play at Azula's house, and learned that, despite being a princess, she had no toys. Not a single one. She was expected to study or practice firebending, and the fact that she had two friends was miraculous._

_ And since Zuko left last season, she has double the commitments._

_ "Ty Lee, you can come to my house," Mai says slowly as Azula brushes past guards and towards a palanquin._

_ "Wait! Wait!" Ty Lee exclaims, tugging at her braid. "I have an idea! We could __train __with you!"_

_ "Look, I appreciate the sentiment, but neither of you are firebenders," Azula says and Mai is catching on._

_ "No. We'll get super good at combat skills too. Tell your father that we're training to be your armed guard," Mai says, walking towards Azula. She steps down, letting go of the palanquin. This might be crazy enough to work._

_ "Your friends are not permitted here, princess," commands a man who is groveling to the petite princess._

_ "They're training to be my elite bodyguards," Azula says, gesturing at them. Mai holds up darts and Ty Lee strikes a relatively laughable fighting pose._

_ The instructor looks... skeptical at best. But slowly, he nods._

_ They get to work instantly. Azula practices firebending with ease while Mai works on her aim. She throws at targets, the instructor that Fire Lord Ozai personally hired for her giving her pointers and guiding her arm. Ty Lee already could do all sorts of flips and had been taking self-defense lessons since she was a child, but she learned about pressure points and the art of breaking an opponent down from the inside._

_ Friends that used to mess around and study and paint nails quickly become a formidable team of combat specialists. A little luck, a little intuition and instinct, and Mai and Ty Lee are quickly powerful nonbenders and a force to be reckoned with. And Azula, as usual, is an amazing firebender._

_ Their great things came from small beginnings._

Zuko follows Jun through the dark night.

Jun's contact told her to meet him outside of this town. She expects her reward, and to see the surprised expression on the prince's face, which will be, needless to say, almost as good as the gold she was promised. But she does not see his figure in the night, just the pale, shining bodies of two girls.

_Trap_. Has to be. Jun takes two steps back as Zuko stumbles forward half-blind.

"I knew it!" Azula screams, leaping to her feet. Ty Lee topples off of her shoulder, jolted awake by her forehead hitting the ground.

"You sold me out to Azula?" And... Zuko?

"I _told _you I wasn't that low. How was I supposed to know that she ─?" Jun shouts, thinking quickly. Running into the Fire Lord was _not _intended.

"Who's your new girlfriend?" The dark night is suddenly bright cerulean. And then red. Ty Lee jumps up as she sees Zuko with a dark haired girl and her large pet.

Zuko and Azula are locked in combat; Zuko has grown stronger, not weaker, though he gasps for breath as he fights Azula. Ty Lee runs after Zuko's companion but is hit by what feels like a butterfly-wasp sting. The girl leaps onto her pet as Ty Lee stumbles, gasping for breath and hitting the ground. She is gone as Azula fights with Zuko.

It happens so fast. Ty Lee still feels in a daze as the paralysis creeps over her. Her chest feels like it is collapsing.

And, then, between Zuko and Azula, a bolt of lighting crashes. Azula does two backflips backwards, out of the sudden blaze, while Zuko stumbles onto his back. They both glance into the darkness, searching for their assailant.

Ty Lee squints at the shadowed rogue firebender.

It wasn't Zuko. But then why is Zuko here?

Mai slings her bag over her shoulder.

"You're leaving," comes a voice behind her. "I'm sorry for leaving you out."

"I'm not a little kid leaving a house party because my friends were no-shows, Katara. What I'm looking for isn't here. I have to go find it," Mai says, shrugging off Katara's gentle hand.

"Please stay."

"I'm not any use to you anymore, Katara," Mai says sharply, pulling away.

"I thought we were friends," Katara grumbles, looking vaguely angry. Mai just sighs.

She walks towards the door, not dignifying that lie with a response.

Her hand is seized by motions as smooth as water, and she is drawn into a kiss.

Well that was unexpected.


	6. Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Chapter Six: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

* * *

><p>Zuko stumbles to his feet. Azula is looking around, lightning on her fingertips. Her eyes flicker to Ty Lee, who is lying, limp, as if struck by her own weapon. Azula walks to her and suddenly, finds herself tackled by her brother. She thrusts her fist into his face before realizing that a blast of red flame just flew over their heads.<p>

Why he saved her from getting hit by fire, she has no idea, but she lies under him for a moment before he sits up and lights his hands ablaze. The night is dark, the stars the only light as the moon is obscured by dark grey clouds. The brother and sister, who were about to tear out each other's throats, are now united against a common enemy.

The rogue firebender remains in the shadows as Azula squints and tries to find them. The flames narrowly miss she and Zuko as Zuko blindly fires flames in the general direction of the shadow. A hulking man, definitely a man, muscular, hidden entirely by the shadows of the trees.

"Alright, I'm burning down the forest," Azula says, a whirlwind of azure fire making contact with the trees. They burst into flames, first a vibrant blue and then becoming a crackling orange.

The lights illuminate the rogue firebender and Azula chokes on her own saliva. Zuko takes several steps back, nearly tripping over his own ankles.

"I thought you were dead," is all Azula can say as rage fills her, overcoming her. She runs at her father and he holds up one hand to block her, but as she reaches him, he pulls her into his arms.

Tears. Azula learned never to cry. Crying is for the weak but now she sobs, clinging, her nails digging into her father's back. Zuko steps away slowly and Azula does not care; she cries and holds. As Azula is howling, Ozai does not try to console her, he simply lets her cry.

"How could you?" Azula shrieks, pulling away and batting her fists against his chest. He seizes her wrists and holds them as the tears drip from her golden eyes again. She sniffs in mucus, her body shaking like a leaf in the cold autumn wind. "How could you let me think you _died_?"

"Little princess," Ozai says, an alien tenderness in his tone. As if he regrets; but Azula knows that father never regrets, "if everyone knew everything, I would be in a good deal of trouble."

"I'm not _everyone_," Azula snarls, her throat raw, as if she has been gargling with nails. "I'm your _child_!"

He pulls her to his chest again and she falls limp, crumbling.

"I know," he breathes, rubbing her back.

This is unusual for him but she doesn't care. She does not care what he does with her because she has him back and now her life can be right again. The world will make sense. She has Ty Lee, she has father... her anger and her disgust are met by utter bliss and her body does not know what to feel. Her mind is equally jumbled as she shakes with sobs again.

"Stay here a moment," father says, taking Azula by her arms and setting her aside.

And he lunges forward with a single blast of flame. Zuko stumbles to block it, the fire dissipating around him. Zuko runs forward, towards the burning trees and his father, and throws a barrage of fire at Ozai that he easily blocks.

Zuko tries yet again to strike his father down, get revenge for Aang and Katara and everyone he loved. But something digs into his spine and he collapses. He attempts futilely to summon fire and fails, gasping for breath. A slender female form hovers over him.

"I got that for you," Ty Lee says, her voice as light as if she is commenting on the weather. Zuko coughs and wheezes; he is out of practice from hiding for so long.

"Why is the traitor here?" Ozai demands sharply, eyeing Ty Lee as if she is something disgusting stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

"She's helping me. She could've abandoned me and she didn't. She saved me instead; we can trust her," Azula says softly and regally, reaching out her hand towards her father and finding the gesture ignored. She quickly lowers her arm, ashamed that she thought her father would accept a familial touch.

"I thought you learned your lesson about trust, little princess," father says and Azula swallows. Ty Lee bites her tongue to keep from snarling at the former Fire Lord.

Azula opens her mouth to protest, but closes it, and Ty Lee did not expect anything different from her.

"Come to the Fire Nation with me," Azula finally says, and her father nods as if... as if he intended this. Azula finds it inexplicable.

She wants to ask his motivations, why _he _was the rogue firebender. But for now, she just wants to go home and reclaim her throne. Father had his reasons, she is certain, and she will forgive him as he would forgive her.

"We'll return at once," Ozai says, glancing at the two prisoners and then his daughter.

On the metal ship, father tears the flowers from Azula's hair as Ty Lee watches with her hand clamped over her mouth. One by one they are torn, tattered and tossed away. Azula's hair occasionally rips with them and she whimpers, digging her nails into her own skin to keep from fussing.

_I'm sorry_, Ty Lee's protuberant eyes say ─ no _beg_ ─ but Azula does not make eye contact. She will not accept that apology. She was too old to be playing pretend by the lake, and now it is biting her with his rough hands tearing out the memories of each kiss.

Ty Lee does not know why Azula suddenly submits. Fire Lord Ozai has no power. He could have claimed absolute power when he killed the Avatar, but he chose to fake death instead. The power is in Azula's hands now, so why she trembles under his grip is baffling to Ty Lee. Azula is strong, brilliant, a supernova. Her father is a fading star and he has no right to treat her this way.

But Ty Lee is a prisoner now and she remains quiet. Azula will find her voice in due time, and it isn't as if Ozai can just take the throne out from under her. She is the most beloved Fire Lord since Sozin, madness and all.

The flowers all fall to the floor.

Azula's hair is draped around her, a dark waterfall masking her body. Father steps back, clearly pleased with his work.

"You can't be Fire Lord and wear _flowers _in your hair. I only want what's best for you," Ozai says and Ty Lee grits her teeth. Azula seems to believe him and Ty Lee wonders how someone so intelligent, clever and conniving could be fooled so easily by her father's games.

"I know, father," Azula says, standing up and grabbing Ty Lee's arm. "We're going to my cabin."

"Have fun with your pet. I hope she doesn't have to meet the same fate as your past pets," father says and Azula swallows a newly developed lump in her throat.

She and Ty Lee collapse onto the ruby draped bed in the captain's quarters. A royal procession, the return of someone regarded as a hero for slaying the Avatar. It feels as if it has happened before, because it has. And Ty Lee laid beside Azula in maybe this same bed, and asked her what they were.

Neither of them knows the answer.

"What happened to your past pets?" Ty Lee asks, a little concerned about Ozai's words.

Azula purses her lips for a moment, contemplating if she will divulge these details. She sighs regally and decides she will tell the truth.

"My father used to get me pets when I was a child. But then he would give them away after a week. I don't know why he did it. I don't know why he did a lot of things." And that is the end of conversation.

They kiss and Azula leans into the contact. She realizes that they will have to sort out where Ty Lee will go. The Avatar is dead, Azula's father resurrected, and Ty Lee's contract fulfilled. And therefore, in the dimly lit cabin that rocks with the force of the sea, they fuck like there is no tomorrow.

Because maybe there isn't.

Meanwhile, Mai is trying to evaluate her priorities. She has dropped her bag, and stares at Katara with surprisingly wide eyes. The Water Tribe girl looks incredibly uncomfortable, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"I'm really sorry, Mai," Katara says, sounding painfully genuine. "I just... I think I got the wrong message."

And she scampers off, leaving Mai entirely baffled, standing by the door to the palace. Over a year ago she stood in this room and babysat a bear while Azula conquered Ba Sing Se singlehandedly. She can feel the residue of the kiss on her lips as she tries to remember what her life was like then. How much better it was.

Zuko can't be dead. It can't have been for nothing. It simply can't.

Her feelings for Katara are mixed; her feelings for Zuko aren't dead.

She sighs and picks up her bag. Mai supposes she will be staying in Ba Sing Se a little longer, as she walks back to her bedroom and lies down, slipping off her shoes and running her toes along the silk blankets. She feels tired, like there is a weight on her, compressing her chest and her body wants to answer it with sleep.

"Do you ever feel like you just want to sleep for a thousand years?" Katara asks and Mai wonders why she entered the room. She expected Katara to run off to her gang of friends.

"Sometimes," Mai says, as noncommittal as ever. Katara smiles faintly.

"I feel like that a lot lately." Awkward silence. Katara plays with the doorknob. "You're still in love with Zuko."

"Of course I am. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't," Mai snaps and Katara swallows. Her throat hurts and she does not know why. She continues messing with the doorknob, now causing it to make an unpleasant squeaking sound.

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just, everything is so confusing right now. _Life _is confusing right now and I don't even understand how we can..." Katara trails off. She had a speech planned for this, one to rival all of the ones she made in the past, but the bored glint in Mai's eyes makes her close her mouth. Her words are wasted on her companion.

"We can be friends, Katara," Mai says and Katara ignores the sinking feeling in her stomach. Because she knows that Mai would rather have her old friends, and that Katara's affections are not returned. Suddenly, Katara knows how Aang felt.

"I'd... like that," Katara says and Mai knows that she does not mean it. The relationship would be ridiculous anyway. They aren't a match. Katara is compassionate and bold, and Mai is... not. It would never work in a million years and Katara should not have been so foolish as to think that it would.

"Okay, that's sorted out."

"Sokka and Toph and Suki and I are going to have dinner together. Do you want to come?" Katara offers and Mai feels sickened by how patronizing her words are. But she nods slowly and rises from bed, still feeling the kiss on her lips.

It felt surprisingly good. But she loves Zuko and nobody else. Especially not Katara.

Mai walks to the dinner table, where Sokka is telling a story that is making Suki and Toph laugh. Out of place, the Fire Nation noble turned traitor sits down at the table silently. Katara sits beside her, as if that makes up for the mistake. The kiss that should not have been.

Meanwhile, Azula arrives in the Fire Nation. She is prepared to take the throne back and she feels on top of the world. The moments by the lake are not forgotten in her bones and in her skin. The lake... the lake was the closest Princess Azula ever came to being human. But she would rather be a monster on the throne than a human by the lakeside.

"You must intend to wipe out the Water Tribe," father says as Azula sits down for dinner. She sits at the opposite end of the table from him, and it should feel right, as if all is well. But everything about it feels wrong.

"Of course I don't. That's a ridiculous move. The Avatar needs to be killed in the Avatar state to break the cycle. I have to wait until the next comes of age," Azula says smoothly, hoping father will be impressed. But his lip twists slightly as if he dislikes what she has just said.

She... she doesn't _need _his approval. She is Fire Lord and it does not matter what father thinks anymore. But Azula still feels a twisting sensation in her gut as he criticizes her plans.

As if his plots weren't entirely suggested by her. The war was won by Princess Azula, not Fire Lord Ozai. But Azula does not know why she has to keep justifying this to herself. The way he looks at her has _changed _since he decided to fake his own death for reasons he will not divulge.

"People really like me as Fire Lord," Azula says, making sure her voice does not shake. She will _not _stand down to him. Azula simply will not.

"Their insane Fire Lord? I'm sure the people completely appreciate your madness," Ozai says, smirking faintly.

Azula looks at her food, no longer with an appetite.

"I'm glad to see you again."

"Of course," he replies as if it is a given. He owes her more than she owes him but he acts as if she has an outstanding debt.

"I'm going to my room," Azula murmurs, glancing again at her untouched plate.

Father says nothing as she leaves the room, hands shaking. She realizes they had stopped beside the lake. It must have been the cold water or something; surely the Fire Nation cannot be making her ill. She was born to rule this nation and she will not step down simply because her hands quaver constantly.

"You don't look so good," Ty Lee says gently and Azula nearly backhands her into a wall. But she takes a deep breath and shuts the door behind her.

"I am perfectly fine. My life is perfect now and I am happier than ever. My family is reunited, I have the throne again, and _everything _is fine," Azula replies bitterly and Ty Lee swallows. She did not intend to upset Azula like that.

"Of course, princess," Ty Lee responds, walking to the bed and sitting down. Fire Lord Ozai has not permitted her to leave Azula's room, which she is not displeased to be sharing now that Ozai is back and has reclaimed his quarters.

"Are you leaving?" Azula asks, walking to her and abruptly straddling her.

"I don't think I'm allowed to," Ty Lee says honestly, shrugging her soft shoulders. Azula is shaking and Ty Lee sets her hands on her waists to steady her.

They share an odd, very disproportionate kiss. Lips linger together and Ty Lee realizes that nothing is ever going to be the same. The two girls left what they had built together way out on the water of the unnamed lake in the Earth Kingdom. Azula is Fire Lord again. Her revenge is completed.

Azula sinks her teeth into Ty Lee's lower lip. It doesn't hurt; it snaps her back into the moment in some strange way. As if this is all surreal, as if it is a dream. Because maybe it is. Maybe she is being tortured in the Boiling Rock and she is just dreaming all of this.

_Well, if it's a dream, it's the best she has ever had._

She slips onto her back, guided by shaking hands. Azula does not look so good as she fumbles with Ty Lee's clothes and the acrobat wants to ask, but every time she thinks she will, Azula's lips touch hers as if she _knows_. But it isn't as if the Fire Lord would answer.

Azula's hands snake up, up, up and Ty Lee likes it, much to her regret. Azula kisses her clavicle and it sends electricity through Ty Lee's body. She is stripped bare and she reaches for Azula's clothes. Wet, hot, throbbing and Azula pulls away as her shirt falls down around her. She draws her knees to her chest and Ty Lee sits up with a jolt.

"I didn't - - I didn't mean to upset you, I..." Ty Lee watches as Azula bites back tears.

"It's not you," she says, reaching for her clothes. Her hands shake even harder as she walks to the bathroom and shuts the door behind her.

Ty Lee can hear her crying but is not stupid enough to comment on it.

She lies awake, her eyes blossoming with salty tears as well, because she cannot help Azula anymore.

The lake is gone. Only Fire Lord Azula remains.

Only emptiness remains.

Azula's crying softens as the moon rises in the sky, the starlight trickling through the window.

Ty Lee pretends to be asleep when Azula walks to the bed, rubbing at her red, raw face. And she slips under the blankets, her limbs wrapped around herself.

Neither of them sleep; but they both pretend to.

It hurts.

Mai and Katara are also pretending to be asleep. They do not want to confront the kiss, or the dinner that Mai found incredibly awkward, during which Katara snapped at her to stop playing with her knife and the blind girl laughed hysterically. Mai squints at the dark ceiling, daring the shadows to come closer.

"I want you to kiss me again."

Azula visits Zuko at daybreak. Ty Lee has managed to fall asleep, and her body is sticky with sweat from nightmares. The Fire Lord dresses herself, pointedly puts her golden crown in her hair, and walks, shivering in the cold thin air of the morning, to the prison in which Prince Zuko is held.

"What do you want, Azula?" Zuko demands loudly and bluntly the moment Azula steps through the door.

"I didn't know it was a crime to visit my own brother. Please forgive me," Azula says sweetly, her voice like a punch in the face coated in raw sugar. "I want to talk to you." She shuts the door with a click. "Alone."

"Why did you let me escape?" Zuko asks, crawling forward, his face almost against the bars. Azula stands with her arms crossed, hovering above him.

"That doesn't concern you," Azula replies sharply.

"Why didn't you kill me? You could've. You had them heal the lightning bolt. Is Katara alive? Is Mai alive?"

Azula throws a wall of fire directly at her brother, giving him barely enough time to block it as he is blinded by cerulean.

"_Shut up_ about your girlfriends," Azula snarls, sinking down to be eye to eye with her brother. "I want to talk to you about our father."

Zuko cracks his knuckles, sweating from the sudden burst of fire that heated the room. Her bending was always powerful. It was more powerful than father's but she obeys him blindly even when she holds the power. Azula does not realize that Ozai is worthless now, and Zuko does not plan to tell her.

It will be her undoing and he thinks he would like to watch that.

"What's wrong with father?" Zuko asks, inflecting as much boredom as he can into his voice. Azula wraps her fingers around the bars, sharp nails glittering in the dim lamplight.

"He's playing something. I don't know what and it's killing me."

"You're paranoid."

"I have good reason to be."

"You've lost it entirely, Azula," Zuko says with a strange... tenderness in his voice that Azula does not like. "You have the throne. Father can't take it without executing a coup against his own daughter. He won't do that."

"I..." Azula slumps against the bars. She sits there silently for a moment and Zuko reaches out and touches her arm. It slows her shaking and he is surprised. "You know you were the first one to betray me."

"What?" Zuko snorts and Azula shakes him off of her, quickly disgruntled.

"Yes. Not counting your banishment, which left me to be subjected to a number of forms of torture, while you ran around playing with Uncle, but you left during the eclipse," Azula says and Zuko does not know what to say. Azula is not notorious for talking about her feelings, and when he saw her walk through the door, he expected her to be ripping out his fingernails, not confiding something in him.

"You _wanted _me to leave, Azula. You _framed _me for the Avatar surviving."

"I know." Azula shrugs. "I didn't want you to steal the throne I had suffered for. And I admit we don't always see, _eye to eye_. But you left and just started it all. Father lost it, Mai and Ty Lee left me... It was all because of you. Because _you _betrayed me."

"Why are you telling me this?" Zuko asks, squinting at her.

Azula pauses. "I have my reasons," she lies.

She doesn't know why she does anything anymore. All she does is pick at her fingernails in silence while Zuko tries to come to terms with this development.

"Even if I didn't like you," Zuko says finally, interrupting Azula's glassy-eyed gaze at the floor, "I did love you."

"That's cute," Azula responds, of course shrugging it off.

"You're my sister and-"

"And I've tried to murder you one too many times for me to believe a word of that."

Azula is gone before Zuko can justify his words.

He _almost _had her.

And he is left in darkness to ponder why Azula suddenly became so open with him, only to walk away. She must gain something sinister from it, but he cannot figure out quite what.

Fire Lord Azula holds audiences, filling her mind with her job instead of her fleeting anxieties and fears. She feels ill. She feels weak. She wants to go on a rampage and just _end _this all. Everything should be good now that father is back. But it isn't, and she went to Zuko because he is the only person she knows who ever had everything they ever wanted but still felt _wrong_.

Ugh, she feels like _Zuko _now. She is a complete embarrassment to the royal family and it kills her as she digs her fingers into the porcelain sink, vomiting. Her stomach contorts as bile forces its way through her throat. Unwanted tears flow from her eyes as the content of her empty stomach swirls down the gilded and chipped drain.

She wipes her mouth and walks to her bed, curling up beneath the covers.

These feelings are horrific and impossible to fathom.

And what she will do with them... frightens her.

That night, Katara dreams of Aang again, and then she dreams of the South Pole. They come to her as her thoughts focus on a single child; a baby. A toddler taking its first steps and... gran-gran.

_"You have to find the next Avatar, Katara. You have to protect her because bad things are going to happen before she is old enough to protect herself," Aang says, wrapping his arm around Katara._

_She lets him hold her. "What kind of bad things?"_

_"You don't want to know. Protect her. Protect my next life," Aang says, rubbing Katara's arm._

_Like Katara could not protect Aang._

Katara wakes up, taking several deep breaths. Mai stirs next to her, clearly not plagued with such vivid nightmares. The waterbender shakes her companion awake.

"Mai, we have to go to the South Pole," Katara says as Mai sits up groggily. "We have to protect the next Avatar."

"Why don't we discuss this in the morning?" Mai suggests, yawning. She lies back down and closes her eyes. Katara shakes her again.

"We have to go tomorrow. We _have to go to the South Pole_," Katara says, digging her fingernails into Mai.

Mai sighs and sits up.

"Okay, okay," she groans, rubbing her eyes.

Azula is met by her father in the evening after she spent the day working. She is tired, but he wanted to speak with her and she feels incredible loyalty to him.

"What do you need, father?" Azula asks, trying not to sound indignant. She sits beside him, hoping that he will at least praise her for her high ratings. Fire Lord Azula is far better than Fire Lord Ozai and he _must _realize that. He _must _admit that.

"I need to talk to you," he replies, something grave and intense in his tone.

Azula swallows. She does not like where this is going.

And Ozai is well aware that Azula will not approve of his plans.


	7. I Am the Fire Nation, And Always Will Be

Chapter Seven: I Am the Fire Nation, And Always Will Be

* * *

><p><em>It is a certain kind of torture. Azula's fingers brush over lips that she wants to kiss again, and again, and again. It should be easier than this; it should not feel like having her fingernails torn out. But just one touch seemed to seal her fortune; she was doomed to love only what she could not have.<em>

_"You look distressed," Ty Lee murmurs, touching Azula's hand. Azula does not know what to say, her lips pursed, as they lie in Ba Sing Se, surrounded by the gilded walls of the Earth King's palace. Permanently stained by make-up that now streaks Azula's pallid hands._

_"You wouldn't understand," Azula murmurs and leans down, pressing her lips against Ty Lee's._

_Are they supposed to be together?_

_Azula doesn't think she is ever going to find out._

"Why didn't you follow through with your Phoenix King idea?" Azula asks before her father can say more. "Why would you fake your own death?"

Former Fire Lord Ozai does not want to answer such questions. He looks at his daughter, how unfit she is for the path he chose for her. She was more powerful than anything he had ever encountered, and he planned to make her greater than Sozin. But she trembles and fawns over a petty love affair. _Sixteen _is not an appropriate age to be leading the nation in a war against Iroh.

"I'm going to be perfectly honest with you, little princess."

"I'm not a princess anymore," Azula replies with such vivacity that his hand twitches towards her. But he silences the desire to seize her by the hair and tries to navigate this situation more carefully.

"I don't think you're quite ready to be leading the war against my brother. You need more time. More time to grow up and get over these emotional outbursts. Let me rule the Fire Nation, just to occupy the throne and deal with Iroh until you come of age," Ozai says and Azula's lip twists with an anger he has never seen before. "It wouldn't be permanent."

Azula stands up harshly, her body snapping with the motion. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare take this from me!"

"This," Ozai says, standing up and overshadowing his daughter, "is why I don't think you're ready. Your little breakdown could cost us a war. You're a _shipwreck _and you need to repair yourself."

"I am a better Fire Lord than you ever were," Azula snarls before feeling the back of his hand collide against her face. She is knocked to the floor, crown clattering against the stone tiles. She breathes in, lighting up both of her hands and standing to face him. "You want the throne, fight me for it."

"It won't be much of a fight," he says and as Azula lunges at him with blazing hands, he grabs her elbow and twists her arm backwards. Her flames disappear and Azula shrieks in utter anger. Not ready, nowhere near ready. She throws tantrums like a little child.

_Forbidden love in the shadows of the Fire Nation. Azula feels a hand interlock with hers and she swallows, her mouth dry and her lips peeling and bloody. _

_"Is this a date?" Ty Lee asks, squinting at Azula as if she can see through the endless walls Azula has constructed around herself._

_"It's whatever you want it to be," Azula replies icily and Ty Lee retracts into herself slightly. Azula feels no remorse for the wounded lips of her paramour._

_The lamps glitter and glow, the fire fountains burn and Azula finds herself unable to cope with finding love._

_It is all so alien to her._

Her back collides with the wall and knocks the winds out of her. She gasps, wondering why she started this fight. She is stronger than him; she knows she is. But he pins her to the wall by her shoulders and she feels absolutely and utterly helpless.

He tears at her clothes.

And she surrenders, because what else can she do?

_"Rulers reign. They reign and then they die. That's the natural order of things."_

_Azula loves the feeling of the flowers being intertwined in her hair, although she will not admit it._

Azula wants to pretend that she does not exist. She wants to sleep for a thousand years. She wants to stop crying because it is weak and she _should not _cry. She wants to go back to the lake and tie stones to herself and drown there, in the last place she was ever happy.

"I only want what's best for you," father says as his hand caresses her face. Her wrist twitches to smack him away, but she silences it. She can control that, but not the shaking, not the uncomfortable stench of metallic blood and stinging sweat.

"I know, father," she chokes but he is already gone, adjusting his sleeves.

She stops crying. She wants to stop existing, which is the exact opposite of what such a brilliant supernova should do.

But who is she kidding? She isn't a star anymore. She cannot even see the stars anymore.

_Ty Lee whispers, her hair smelling of moss and lakewater, but still smelling good to Azula, "You streaked across my sky like a comet. And when it burned out, there were no stars in my sky but you."_

_Azula smirks in the darkness of the tent. "That's uncharacteristically intelligent of you, Ty Lee."_

_The prisoner laughs, as if it is hilarious. Azula tries not to feel patronized._

_"You're the only lights I need," Ty Lee murmurs and Azula is trying not to vomit from the cheesiness of it all._

_"Well, aren't you a hopeless romantic? I find it revolting." Lips touch._

_Azula forgets for a few hours or so. She feels inexplicably human, not like a half slain monster bleeding into a drain, watching her life force being sucked away._

Azula runs a bath until it is scalding. The steam permeates the room and she can almost forget the smell of her father's perfume as her nose is filled with scented candles and overly fancy soaps she has only toyed with. She steps into the water and feels no pain from the excessive heat.

It does nothing for her because she is too numb to feel the pain. The water turns light pink from the blood lifting from her slender, muscular legs.

"Are you burnt?" Ty Lee demands, bursting into the room uninvited. Azula swallows the vicious reply she means to toss.

"I'm fine."

"Your skin is red." And hands are on her. Soft and delicate, the absolute opposite of the ones that tore into her.

"Go away."

"Azula..."

"Go away _now_ before I have you executed." A vicious snarl.

Pause. Ty Lee seems to be _thinking _about the order instead of blindly obeying it. If Azula weren't naked and submerged in water, she would backhand her prisoner into the wall. She grits her teeth at the overly satisfying imagery of knocking one of Ty Lee's teeth out.

"I'm not leaving you. I am _never _leaving you again, whether you like it or not, princess," Ty Lee says with ferocity that Azula has not seen since Ember Island nearly two years ago.

Azula opens her mouth to protest, but then just dips lower into the water.

Behind the walls of Ba Sing Se, Katara confronts Sokka with what Mai considers to be a completely insane plan. Mai wakes up after dreaming about Zuko every night but she doesn't decide to take up a two month journey to a floating blob of _ice_.

"You can always stay here, Mai," Katara says, snapping Mai out of her judgmental reverie.

"No, no, I'm coming with you." Mai crosses her arms and Katara returns to focusing on her brother.

"We're going to the South Pole to protect the new Avatar," Katara says and Sokka snorts derisively. Mai cocks an eyebrow; exactly what she was thinking.

"Why?" Sokka asks, looking concerned. "Katara, you just got here. You can't just run away. You're alive and that's all that matters. We should focus on General Iroh's plans, not your _dreams _about Aang."

"I'm coming back. I promise." Katara stands very still for a moment as Sokka's jaw juts out. "You can't stop me. It has to be done."

Sokka purses his lips, retracting into himself. The futility in his eyes almost makes Mai _feel_. Katara adjusts the strap of her bag around her shoulder and turns to go, choking on tears in her throat. Mai pauses, unsure what to do, and then turns to walk with Katara.

"Wait!" Sokka shouts and Mai turns around, touching Katara's back. She is crying now, crystalline tears dripping down her chiseled tan cheeks. "Take Appa."

"Take what?" Katara's tears dry almost instantly and Mai is shocked. "Appa is alive?"

"Yeah. A group of our soldiers found him lost and alone," Sokka says, rubbing his neck. "He could probably use some exercise."

"Momo?"

"Yep. But I don't think Momo would like the South Pole much. We might just keep him." Sokka forces a smile.

The siblings embrace as Mai tries to figure out what a _Momo _is. Katara grabs Mai's hand, as if they didn't kiss, and the two of them follow Sokka to one of the courtyards that they didn't have time to explore. Most of the palace, Mai and Katara haven't touched.

Mai is met by an angry bellowing sound as she recalls all of the times the sky bison has knocked her off of things or into things. She glares at him, challenging him to attack her. He makes another bellowing sound and Mai takes a few steps back. She does not think she can win this fight.

"Appa, I'm so happy to see you!" Katara shouts, embracing Appa and then spitting out a mouthful of white fur. Mai smirks. "We'll get to the South Pole a lot faster this way."

"I am... not riding on that." Mai crosses her arms.

"You are just a _perpetual _stick in the mud, aren't you? Come on. It's not _that _bad." Katara clambers onto the sky bison with muscles her body forgot she had. Mai clears her throat and stands awkwardly.

Mai sighs and walks to the fur beast.

_"Clumps!"_

Mai gets onto Appa, precariously balanced. Katara waves a final goodbye to Sokka, shouts a goodbye to Toph and blows a kiss to Suki as Mai sits there awkwardly. Mai makes brief eye contact with General Iroh as Katara declares, "Yip yip!"

_Find Zuko. _And Mai only wishes she could. But instead, she is about to start a journey on a huge furry flying monster to the South Pole to protect the baby Avatar.

And she thought her life was interesting while adventuring with Azula.

"She's not a bauble you can brush aside, with all due respect," Admiral Hoang says from the war table, his heart racing.

The throne room is red; it is no longer blue. The men feel both at ease and manic, if such a combination is possible. Fire Lord Ozai is a known, he was easy, but the people will not be pleased with this change.

"I already did," Fire Lord Ozai responds, his tone not yet angry. Admiral Hoang takes a deep breath, dripping beads of sweat.

"They loved her. The Fire Nation loved her. And I can't remember a time the Fire Nation ever loved anyone as much as that."

"Well when you're prettier than Sozin, that's not hard," Ozai snarls and Admiral Hoang swallows, his throat impossibly dry and his stomach knotted. "The people will have their Fire Lord Azula once she recovers. My daughter is wounded and helpless and weak. Running the nation will be the death of her."

"She conquered Ba Sing Se. She alone rivaled Iroh's ─"

"I _won't _hear any more of it, you understand?" Ozai snaps, clenching his fist. The flames lick the ceiling for a blinding split-second. "If people have a problem with it, we'll just burn them. Every last one of them."

And burn them he does. He executes every person who tries to stand in his way of getting the throne again. Azula watches many of them, and no matter how grotesque the melting of a face is, no matter how loud and shrill the screams, Azula does not ever look away.

She wants to see them all burn.

"People always cry before they get burnt," Azula says through the bars. She is sitting, looking peculiarly small. Or maybe she was always that size and she just seemed larger than life in her infinite glory. "It wasn't unusual for you to cry. You were just a kid."

Zuko snorts derisively and says nothing more.

"He replaced me, you know?" Azula murmurs, wiping her slender finger along the cold dark floor. A thick black residue is on her finger when she examines it.

"He's greedy and cruel," Zuko replies, speaking for the first time in twenty minutes. "You should know that."

Azula hesitates. "I've always loved him and I always will."

The words are dry and almost rehearsed. Zuko does not know what to say to that.

"Would you kill him if you had to?" Zuko asks.

"As _if _you could," Azula responds sharply, attempting a laugh and only making a hollow coughing sound. "You couldn't kill a spider-fly."

"I didn't ask if I could."

Silence. Azula contemplates lying or punishing him for speaking to her that way. She thinks of a lot of things before responding, "Rulers reign. They reign and then they die. That's just the natural order of things."

She does not leave but neither she or her brother speak again tonight.

"It's almost summer," Ty Lee says halfheartedly as Azula walks into the room and lies down on the bed. Her limbs are splayed out around her like a dead body that took a freefall. In fact, she _feels _like a dead body that took a freefall.

"Why should I care?" Azula responds airily and Ty Lee frowns just for a flicker of a moment. She continues gazing out of the window of her glorified prison cell, watching the summer breeze pick up ash and petals. "Would you like to attend the coronation of my father with me? It would _almost _be like a date."

Ty Lee swallows. She is in far over her head, clawing at the surface futilely.

"I would love to, princess," and Ty Lee realizes that she has said something awful. But Azula does not react, she simply lies there.

"He's given me a speech. It's all lies. Not that I haven't recited lies to please my father before. But these are _my _people. This is _my _Nation. I _earned _it through blood and sweat and..." Azula trails off. She sits up, stands up and starts pacing. She tears at her hair and sinks to the floor as Ty Lee watches with her knees pressed to her chin. Her eyes are wide and glittering with tears as she looks at the princess and wishes she could do more.

"You're like.."

"I'm like what?" Azula snarls, but Ty Lee is not frightened. She stands up and walks to Azula, kneeling beside her.

"You're like the flowers, Azula. Torn up and... never mind." She kisses the princess on the lips. It seems to be the only remedy to the way her heart is twisting and tearing.

Her fingers slip under Azula's dress. Azula shivers from the touch, feeling strangely revolted by the familiar, intoxicating fingers. Up to her breast and Azula's nipples harden. Azula is slipping away and Ty Lee is wondering if she is doing something wrong and they just stay there like that for a moment, half together, mostly apart.

Azula starts to cry.

Sob. Sobbing. Her body shaking and shuddering.

Ty Lee has never _seen _her cry before, even if she has heard her cry.

"Why would you do this to me?" Azula snarls and Ty Lee's head shakes rapidly. She sits on the floor, still wet and quite confused about what Azula means. "Just stop. Don't even try, you vapid whore."

And she slips to the window. It is hot, hot like the summer that comes. With flies and rot and sweat, the swelter will make the city reek. It will be the second anniversary of the comet and the first time she has not mourned the death of her father.

Now he is just taking her life in exchange for his.

"Azula..." Ty Lee says quietly, pushing herself up with one hand and walking to the bed. Azula cries and she does not stop crying. "What's hurt you?"

"I don't know. I don't know anymore." Her voice is raw and alive, not the cold and calculated musical notes of a beautiful monster. She is all human and it terrifies Ty Lee.

She cries and howls. She just keeps crying.

And she doesn't stop.

She doesn't know where it hurts.

_Because it hurts everywhere._

The coronation comes quickly. Fire Lord Ozai rushed it, rushed to get the formalities completed and to make sure he was able to name Azula Fire Lord again when he was ready. When he was met with any opposition, it was crushed. The Fire Sages were even removed from traditional holidays they were meant to see over to crown him Fire Lord.

Azula is dolled up and dressed up. He kissed her neck after he put a necklace he bought her around it. She just sat there quietly thinking of the night where she was trying to figure out what hurt. But she felt numb and angry like a glacial fire.

Ty Lee looks beautiful and Azula wishes she could tell her so without sounding weak. They stand on a balcony, facing a sea of subjects who adored Azula. The only people who ever _truly _loved her. They never betrayed her like everyone else did. Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, father, mother...

"Your speech, little princess." And suddenly Azula is in the spotlight. She walks to the edge of the balcony, her pale dress in contrast to the dark red of the Fire Sages around her.

"I don't have much to say. My silver tongue conquered Ba Sing Se. I told you the news when the war was won, and I told you what we lost." Pause. They are all listening to her and suddenly she does not feel like her father's broken toy; she feels powerful. She decides to cast aside the script he wrote for her and says, "It would have been a shame if my brother took the throne. He was an imposter. If there is anything we cannot stand for as a people, it is imposters."

Her hand is grabbed and it first she is terrified that it is her father. But it is Ty Lee.

"I have to step down from the throne for my... mental health." She adds a note of derision to her words, to display the truth of the matter without saying it publicly. "I assure you, after one hundred years of incessantly winning a war, we won't fade. My father is a good man."

Pause. Breathless audience.

"But, with one last phrase," Azula says, clearing her throat.

"Azula this may not be a good idea..." Ty Lee whispers anxiously, eyeing the soldiers sizing up Azula.

But Azula continues with,

"I am the Fire Nation, and always will be!"

At her echoing words, she is pulled away from the balcony, her fingernails scraping against the stone. The people cheer, and then there is silence. Echoing, deafening silence.

A single spark. A single flame. A riot.

Azula is dragged away in the arms of her father. She laughs. She cannot do anything but laugh because at this point she is utterly screwed. She is in hysterics when they arrive at the palace and she is thrown to the floor.

"What was that? What was the meaning of that?" he shouts, and Azula takes a deep breath. Her ribs feel as if they are collapsing on themselves.

"I was simply being honest, father."

"You'll become an _icon _of their discontent! You realize that?" Ozai snarls, grabbing her by the neck. She screams as he pushes her against a wall. As his fingers press down on her neck, she pushes one hand onto his face. Her nails nick his eye and he curses, dropping her and cupping his face.

"Go." He turns to her, one eye red and swollen. "Pack your things. I can't have you here. It's too much of a risk to my throne."

"It was _my _throne, father." Azula pushes herself up, though she is shaking. "You gave it to me. Rulers reign. They reign and then they ─"

"Take her." A low growl cuts off her words.

The guards grab her by the arms and drag her away.

"And get rid of her pet!"

Azula does not cry. Nor does she scream. She just laughs. And laughs. And laughs.


	8. Have You Ever Seen Me Defeated?

Chapter Eight: Have You Ever Seen Me Defeated?

* * *

><p>Ty Lee dreams of ice and snow in her sweltering hot prison cell.<p>

_"Um, hello?" she calls, her voice reverberating eerily. She trudges through the feet of snow, her bare feet not experiencing the sensation of cold as they brush against the slick ice._

_"Hey." And her eyes widen when she sees the Avatar. Last she saw him was a long, long time ago, but he has not changed. _

_Ty Lee stands very still as she examines his ethereal form._

_"Do you, uh, need something, Avatar?" Ty Lee asks, wrapping her arms around herself. Azula needs her help and she is trapped in a dream about a dead person, a lost cause._

_"I've been hearing some interesting things in the Spirit World, and I've been watching over the new Avatar. You need to go to the South Pole with Azula," the Avatar says and Ty Lee squints at him. She is not quite sure what she would gain by that._

_"Wouldn't that just make it easier for her to kill the new Avatar?" Ty Lee asks, cocking an eyebrow. The Avatar offers a strange, wizened smile._

_"Just wait. Destiny is a pretty funny thing."_

Ty Lee wakes up, her face streaked with dirt. Her hair drips sweat onto her tan skin as she looks around at the cell she is trapped in. It is dark, a dim lamp burning low on the ceiling. She touches the bars and sighs, sitting on her knees. She feels the urge to break out and run to find Princess Azula, whether they go to the South Pole or not.

Meanwhile, not far down the hall, Azula is thrown into a dark room. Inhaling sharply, she lights her palm, bright blue. And it illuminates the scarred face of her brother. He squints at her momentarily, looking as he does not know what to say. And she gives him nothing to reply to.

"Are you okay? You have bruises on your neck," Zuko asks sickeningly sweetly and it takes all the restraint in Azula to not burn him. Azula _hates _being treated as fragile, and she _despises _her brother's new attitude he gained since running away during the eclipse.

"I'm not talking to you," Azula says airily, looking down her nose at him pointedly.

She sits on the floor of the grungy prison cell, streaked with dirt and bruises, her hair knotted from being ripped by Fire Lord Ozai, as if it is a throne. The dignity of the hollow body of Azula sends a chill through Zuko's body. He does not touch her; he simply sits in the corner and stares at her thousand yard gaze.

Zuko wakes up to Azula pacing in the cell, her arms wrapped around herself. He wants her to stop but finds himself too intimidated to say anything. The bruises on her neck have faded from black and blue to a deep green and her fingernails are streaked with black and crusty red. She looks even worse than she did when he first faced off with her during the comet.

When he lost. And now Azula is just as lost.

_What would Uncle say? _he finds himself thinking. But Azula does not seem like the kind of person who would benefit from Uncle's advice.

The fact that, after all Azula has done, he still wants to help her is baffling. But seeing her like this deeply unnerves him. He cannot help but want to do something for her, but it feels intimidating, impossible. She leans against the wall and slides down to sit with her knees touching her chest.

A soldier walks in with a key. Zuko eyes him carefully.

"I just need the princess," the man says, the tone of derision something Zuko has become used to. He is the traitor prince in the heavily nationalist Fire Nation.

Azula goes willingly, surprisingly to Zuko. And former Prince Zuko watches former Fire Lord Azula be shackled by a shaking, sweating guard who watches her with fear. And she is slowly guided away.

Zuko shivers and tries to go back to sleep.

Many, many miles away, "This is fucking terrifying," Mai says flatly, though she is screaming on the inside.

Katara is guiding Appa through the harsh southern winds. They have been travelling for two weeks now and they are finally nearing the southern tip of the Earth Kingdom.

"You say that every day," Katara responds, turning Appa towards a body of fresh water. It looks like a serene waterfall in a cold forest, and they slowly land.

"I dislike you," Mai says to Appa, glaring at him pointedly. Katara smirks and snickers. "You knocked me off of a building and into a river."

"Appa is a lovable, friendly monster, Mai," Katara says, nuzzling Appa's fur. She chokes and coughs and Mai decides that it serves her right.

"I'll believe it when he apologizes," Mai replies, suppressing a smile.

She and Katara get to work setting up camp for the night. It has become familiar to Mai and she almost hates it. On her travels the past two weeks, she has felt herself growing closer to Katara. Close enough that she wonders what it would be like to kiss her again... and maybe again. But neither of them is willing to admit the spark between them, and so they continue setting up camps and flying through long, cold days.

They sit in the tent that night and Mai closes her eyes, trying to float off to sleep. Katara is close to her and she is made mildly uncomfortable about the body touching hers. She loves Zuko irrevocably, but her feelings for Katara are getting more complicated day by day.

"I have to tell you something," Katara whispers, rolling over. Mai was fully under the impression that she was asleep. "I feel like... we're getting closer. Closer than we were in prison."

"Yeah," Mai murmurs, her voice barely a whisper. She is not sure if she likes where this is going.

"I'm sorry that I forced myself on you romantically. Just tell me if you... feel the same." Katara's confidence always amazes Mai. She simply says what she wants; she gets what she wants. She is kind of like Azula, if Azula were kind and compassionate. It is an odd sensation.

"Katara..." Mai says, slowly sitting up. The waterbender looks like she does not mind the answer either way. Her jaw juts out slightly. She is so proud and so powerful. And Mai can only press her lips against her companion's. "I think I do. It makes me feel sick to my stomach but I do."

"Just until we find Zuko," Katara says, feeling the overwhelming guilt of her words. _She is lying_.

Mai kisses her again, leaning into it this time. She supposes if she is going to do this, she is going to go all the way. Katara slips her hands up Mai's shirt as Mai recalls that Katara has never done this before, even with a boy. Katara lips touch her neck without hesitation. She is brave and Mai almost envies her.

Katara is rubbing Mai's breasts, making her gasp. _Her _of all people, gasping and moaning. In the cold night, heat rises from their bodies and they kiss again and again. Mai seizes some semblance of control, hands around Katara, long nails digging into her back in a way that feels surprisingly good. Katara moans into Mai's mouth as Mai leans in to kiss her while swirling fingertips around the inside of her thigh.

Mai strips Katara naked, not once stopping to wonder if it is a poor decision. Caramel breasts and dark nipples, quickly pressed against Mai's pale, thin body as their lips touch each other.

Katara has no idea what she is doing, but she wraps her legs around Mai. Figuring this out with a boy would be challenging, but at least she knows what body part goes where. But Mai seems to know, and the girls wind up grinding their way to paradise.

The waterbender is breathless when she is finished; she just had the first orgasm of her life and she feels as if she wants more. But she and Mai pull their clothes back on and lie down in the canvas tent. The moonlight illuminates their bodies in the night.

"I love you, Mai, I think," Katara says. Silence is her response.

Finally, Mai responds, "I love you too, I think."

Meanwhile, in the Fire Nation, Azula is led in her shackles, after a week and half in a prison cell, silently watching Zuko watch her, to the royal palace. Her father is waiting for her at the long dining room table. The one she sat at alone as Fire Lord and sometimes was driven to speak to chairs. The soldiers set her on her chair, opposite her father and she gives them a look that makes them nearly flee.

"You're here to discuss the terms of your leave," father says, a forced kindness in his tone. Azula's lip is twisted slightly in a snarl, but he does not acknowledge it. "You go away for a while, and when things have calmed down, you are free to come home and be my little princess again."

"I am _not _your little princess. I am─"

"The Fire Nation?" father growls and Azula looks as if she has been slapped in the face. She sits quietly after that, her heart racing. "You can take what you feel you need. The royal procession is yours. I wouldn't cast you aside like your brother; I owe you more than that."

_You owe me the crown_, Azula wants to snap, but she bites her tongue.

"I want Ty Lee."

Father grits his teeth. "I'll hold true to my word."

Azula pauses. Now she must play the game well. She is malnourished already, exhausted, and on the verge of a mental collapse; but she has to make wise choices. If she negotiates this properly, she could claim her rightful throne.

"I want Zuko too."

Katara and Mai arrive at the Water Tribe and Katara is in awe of how much has changed. It looks more like a village and less like a handful of igloos. Appa lands with a bellow of joy, and Katara slides down. She reaches one hand up and helps Mai to the ice as well.

"It's cold." Mai's blank stare makes Katara smile faintly, with a touch of a blush. "I hate the cold."

"Maybe when this war is over we can build a house somewhere sunny." Katara winks pointedly and Mai sighs. "Now come meet my family."

Mai struggles to walk on the slick snow as Katara scurries across it towards the lights and ice buildings. Once Mai went to a party with ice sculptures at it; it was incredibly exotic, as ice isn't exactly everywhere in the Fire Nation. These buildings look like the sculptures, with a coating of white frost and snow.

"Oh, those fires look warm," Mai murmurs, walking towards the crackling bonfire in the center of the village.

The new South Pole stuns Katara. It is not as extravagant as it could be if the Fire Nation had lost the war as was intended to happen. But the North Pole has certainly helped rebuild. It looks like somewhere Katara never could have imagined. Not quite the great water ducts and palaces of the North Pole, but beautiful all the same.

Katara sees Gran-Gran and starts to cry. The tears pour from her eyes as she leaves Mai and throws herself into the arms of her grandmother. Kanna feels tears swell in her aged eyes as she clutches her granddaughter. Sobs wrack both of their bodies as they cling to each other in the ice and snow.

_Home_. Katara is _home_. She has not felt this happy in over a year.

"Gran-Gran, I can't believe it." Katara wipes her eyes, choking on mucus. "I'm so happy to see you."

"Katara, I was so worried..." Gran-Gran clutches Katara to her chest tightly. She hopes her granddaughter never slips away. "Sokka? Pakku?"

"Both in Ba Sing Se," Katara says into her Gran-Gran's hair.

Katara finally pulls back, holding Gran-Gran's weathered hands in hers. She turns to Mai, who is standing awkwardly and shivering profusely.

"This is Mai. She helped me escape from prison," Katara says, reaching out a hand to Mai. Mai walks across the precarious snow and holds Katara's hand. It feels weird to her, but she allows it.

"It looks like you and Mai could use some clothes for this weather," Kanna says, gesturing to the ice sculpture that is she and Pakku's home, former home of she and Hakoda and Kya.

Katara and Mai walk into the igloo, Mai sitting down on a bed and pulling the fur sleeping bag around herself. She has never been so cold in her entire life. Katara smirks at the sight and sits down beside Mai.

A toddler cries and Katara's eyebrows shoot up.

"That's Korra," Gran-Gran says, walking to the cradle Katara entirely missed and picking up a baby who looks about a year old. Dark hair, dark skin, a Water Tribe baby.

Something overwhelms Katara when she sees her. It is at that moment, although she finds it ridiculous, that she knows that the child is the Avatar. She _must _be. But Katara holds her tongue as Gran-Gran dresses she and Mai in warm underclothes and parkas.

Mai positions herself next to the hearth of the house and sits on the rug, nearly plunging herself entirely into the fire. Katara cradles Korra in her arms and can almost feel Aang's arms around her. She glances at Mai with guilt when she feels this way about Aang.

That night, the waterbender and Fire Nation noble lie together in the same bed.

"Korra is the Avatar," Katara whispers to Mai and Mai's amber eyes flash. She is startled.

"You know?"

"I know. We have to protect her," Katara says, intertwining her fingers with Mai's. Mai does not slip her hand away, she lies there, her hair mixed up with Katara's, the blankets padding their bodies so they do not freeze to death in their sleep.

"We will," Mai says with such earnestness that Katara glows.

"Are we a couple now?" Katara asks and Mai shifts her weight uncomfortably.

"I think we are, whether we like it or not," Mai says with a small laugh.

They fall asleep beside each other.

In the morning, Azula wakes beside someone.

It is not Ty Lee, as she has grown used to over the past few months. She feels momentarily ill but composes herself. It is something she realizes she has no control over, as much as that pains her. Fire L─ _Princess_ Azula feels the need to control everything.

But this is one thing she could never dominate.

She thinks that is why he does it.

Azula gets up slowly, trying to find her clothes without waking her father. She does not want to face him right now; she cannot bear to look at the man who stole everything from her and claimed it was because he cared.

She locates all of her garments, and pulls them halfheartedly onto her bony form. Gradually disappearing. Fire Lord - - Princess Azula is gradually disappearing. Maybe the way she starves herself, maybe the stress, maybe the nightmares that don't let her sleep.

Whatever it is, she is getting smaller and smaller and smaller.

"Where are you going?" _Wonderful_.

"To prepare for my departure, father," Azula says, her voice like a sickeningly sweet poison. She imagines venom dripping from her teeth and it is vaguely satisfying.

He is silent.

"You don't have to send me away, you know," Azula murmurs as her father stands up and gets dressed. "What kind of threat could your poor, mentally ill daughter be...?"

"You know why you're dangerous, Azula," father says and Azula grits her teeth. He walks to her and she takes two steps back.

"I know that I'm dangerous because I am going to come back one day. I'm going to come back and I'm going to take what's mine with blood and flame. I will kill you, father, I will kill you and I will─"

She hits the floor. Her face is filled with pain and tingling from the back of his hand. Azula pushes herself up, coughing, and turns to leave the room without looking at him again.

Azula, Zuko, Ty Lee and a skeleton crew leave with Azula's belongings. They settle on the ship, Zuko looking baffled and Ty Lee clinging to Azula like a frightened child.

The princess is silent, eerily silent.

"Happy to be free, ZuZu?" Azula finally asks as the ship passes the Gates of Azulon. Zuko squints at her, the scarred eye almost fully closed.

They stand at the bow of the ship, the salty sea breeze whipping through their dark hair. Azula has her arms wrapped around herself while Zuko simply stands there. They are close to each other but miles apart internally.

"This still feels like a trap," Zuko mumbles, knowing better than to trust Azula. She simply shrugs in response.

"Whatever you want it to be, brother," Azula purrs, patting his chin. He jumps at the contact of her skin, leaving her snickering as she walks into the belly of the steel ship.

"I guess it's off to the South Pole," Ty Lee says, wrapping her arms around Azula. Azula falls into the touch, as much as it makes her skin crawl.

Ty Lee guides her to the bed in the center of the room and Azula lies down, Ty Lee rolling beside her. The princess squints at the ceiling and wonders how her life came to this point. She was the greatest Fire Lord since Sozin and now she is a banished princess. All because she loved her father.

Isn't that sickening?

"You're going to go back. And you're going to claim your, er, rightful throne," Ty Lee says sweetly, kissing Azula's clavicle.

"Your optimism is as disgusting as ever." Their teeth bump against each other in a very messy kiss. _Ouch_.

"Are you scared?" Ty Lee murmurs as Azula is on top of her. Their faces are aligned, caught somewhere between wanting to kiss each other and wanting to push each other away.

"Have you ever seen me defeated?" Azula whispers, kissing Ty Lee's neck. The acrobat shivers, but her shoulders do not shoot up as they used to. Azula kisses her jaw, her cheek. Feverish, burning kisses from the cold and hollow body of a former supernova.

"No," Ty Lee lies and Azula believes her. Their lips meet, noses brushing against each other.

Ty Lee undoes Azula's clothes with surprising ease. Things don't feel like puzzles anymore, conversations don't feel like quizzes and she finds that she has fallen in love more than she was when she was fourteen and foolish. Azula shakes slightly and Ty Lee kisses her trembling body.

Maybe she'll stop again. Maybe she'll cry again and Ty Lee cannot control it. But she just wants her to know that she loves her no matter what happens.

"I love you, Azula."

"I know," Azula replies smoothly, slipping her hands up Ty Lee's shirt.

Faint smile. They fall back on the bed, lips straying and fingers peeling off articles of clothing one by one. Azula tries to feel the right person with her and keeps failing, but she takes a deep breath and tears at Ty Lee when those unwelcome thoughts cross her mind.

Azula digs her fingernails into the inside of Ty Lee's thighs, pulling down. Scream, Azula smirks. Lips touch, her lips touch the blood blossoming on the inside of Ty Lee's legs. She tries not to think about the blood that has trickled down her own legs as the metallic taste is in her mouth.

Slipping up, tongue swirling.

Bliss as Azula tries to forget and Ty Lee falls under Azula's spell.

They fall asleep with their naked bodies intertwined.

"_True power, the divine right to rule, is something you're born with," declares the mirror. Mirrors, mirrors everywhere like the palace of a narcissists._

_Azula glances around, seeing herself reflected in all of them. And her body is gradually disappearing, as it appears in the one directly in front of her. The surface glitters grey as the girl sits on a charcoal black throne in a red gown. Herself; just better. No hair out of place, no shaking hands._

_"True power, the divine right to rule, is something you're born with," it repeats._

_Azula opens her mouth to speak but cannot. Her hands rush to her throat and she is met by the sensation of hot, wet blood pouring from it. She gasps for breath and feels herself suffocating, choking on her own blood. It broils and burns her fingers as she falls on her knees._

_"But, apparently," the mirror continues, "it can be so easily stolen."_

Azula wakes up screaming. Ty Lee is up instantly, gasping for breath.

"Are you okay?" she asks, as she always does. Azula shrugs.

"It was just a dream." She is speaking more to herself than Ty Lee.

Azula stands up and heads to the deck of the ship. The moon casts beams of light on the steel, cold underneath her bare feet. She feels like she is dancing on starlight as she walks to the bow and looks out at what is before her. Oblivion; she is standing on the precipice of defeat.

Maybe she was not born to rule. Maybe she was not born lucky.

"Can't sleep?" Zuko's voice makes her jump and nearly fall into the water.

"We need to hang a bell around your neck, brother," Azula says, smirking to herself. She turns around, arching her back on the side of the ship, and she eyes him closely, shaking her head slowly with her lips in a small pout. "I never thought I would wind up banished. I'm turning into _you_."

"It's not that bad once you get used to it," Zuko lies and Azula does not believe him. "We're going to the South Pole?"

"Something about a dream Ty Lee had." Azula shrugs as Zuko laughs. "I will do _anything _to get my throne back. Even if it means following the clues of a dream. I will take it with blood and vengeance and flame and..." She just shrugs and shakes her head again.

"You think they're just going to let us into the Water Tribe?" Zuko asks, leaning over the ship beside her.

"We have _you_. I think you're our ticket to wherever we want to go," Azula says with an airy sigh. She blinks for a little too long and Zuko picks up on the carefully masked pain in her golden eyes.

"I feel less worried about you bringing me along then." Silence. "I've been thinking about what you said back when I was in prison. That I was the first person to betray you."

"It was a long time ago. It doesn't matter anymore," Azula says and Zuko purses his lips. "I've stopped caring about most things at this point."

"I think we have more in common than we thought," Zuko continues and Azula snorts derisively. She laughs, fake, cold, mocking. "I think we could have been friends if it weren't for father."

"A lot of things would be different if it weren't for father." Azula crosses her arms and they do not speak again.

They arrive at the Water Tribe after two weeks of travel. Azula feels ill. She has been vomiting from the anxiety of facing the water peasants and trying to get what she wants. She has never felt this way before a battle, filled with nausea and soreness and a racing heartbeat.

Has her father broken her? He cannot have. He simply cannot have.

Katara and Mai are getting the houses ready for the cold night, about to go to sleep, Mai complaining the entire time, when they see the ship coming. Katara instantly recalls seeing Zuko's ship arrive when she freed Aang from the iceberg. She tugs on Mai's shoulder and the two of them start running.

"Of course, Katara, run directly at the Fire Nation ship breaking through the ice," Mai grumbles, rolling her eyes as she tries to free knives from her parka.

Metal collides with ice and Katara summons arms of water. Mai holds arrows carefully, squinting, waiting for soldiers. They could take a few soldiers, that Mai knows.

But she nearly drops her weapons when she sees Azula, Ty Lee and... Zuko? Zuko?

"Don't attack us; we're not going to harm you." Azula puts her hands up in surrender, but Katara does not move. Mai drops her arm, still staring at Zuko, her heart racing. "We just want to come stay here!"

_"I know one thing I care about. You."_

_The beach. Love._

"As if I believe that!" Katara snaps before noticing Zuko. She falters.

"We brought Zuko!" Azula exclaims, gesturing at her shivering brother. Mai falters, her form sinking slightly. Azula suppresses a smirk but Katara catches the glitter in her golden eyes.

"Mai, don't do this─" Katara begins, eyeing Azula and the way she looks like a predator who just caught sight of a wounded prey.

But Mai presses her lips against Zuko's and falls into his arms. They cling onto each other in the snowy cold, sucking on each other's faces. Katara wants to end it; Azula is openly smiling now. Ty Lee swallows and waits for the moment that this will break into a fight.

"Katara," and Gran Gran walks to the bow of the Fire Nation ship. Kanna recalls so many like it before, but senses something very different about it. "What's happening?"

"We can't let her in! She's a monster... she..." but Katara watches Mai and Zuko break apart and realizes that she is about to be overruled. She formulates a thousand speeches, a thousand words to stop it, but none of them make it out of her lips, because she is interrupted by the circus freak.

"She just got thrown out of her home by her own father. He overthrew her in a coup," Ty Lee interrupts. "She _wanted _to come here because we had a dream about the Avatar and he _told _us to come here. She even freed Zuko!"

Katara pauses. "You had a dream about Aang?"

"Why else would I come to this block of _ice_?" Azula says airily and Katara wants to water smack the sadistic pleasure off of her smug face. "Something about my destiny."

Kanna pauses and examines the scene. "They're innocent until proven guilty."

"Gran-Gran, you're kidding me!" Katara exclaims, prying her eyes from Mai and Zuko's clinging. "She's _definitely _guilty! She killed Aang in Ba Sing Se! She-she I can't even put into words how awful she is!"

"Give her a chance, will you?" and Ty Lee interrupts again. "Azula doesn't want to change. But right now she has no choice, like Zuko. Zuko didn't have any choice when he was exiled but to change and, well..."

"I... actually agree with Ty Lee," Zuko says and Azula does not hide her shock. She imagined her brother would flee to the Water Tribe and send her on her way. "Let her stay the night, at least."

Katara purses her lips as Gran-Gran turns to her. Slowly, Katara nods.

"Only because of what you did for me with Yon Rha."

"Didn't he take a bolt of lightning for you?"

"Azula, be nice!" Ty Lee snaps, seizing Azula's wrist. She flashes the fakest grin Katara has ever seen, but the master waterbender grumbles and waves for the trio of Fire Nation members to follow her back to the tribe.

Azula enters the Water Tribe village, shivering, and is disgusted by it. She cannot believe she will be staying in this place. She hated the snow in the Earth Kingdom and she hates it here. Snow... not white ash, not Earth Kingdom frost. It is both beautiful and awful and she cannot explain it.

Ty Lee looks excited as she holds Azula's hand. Their skin is cold in the exposed arctic wind.

"You can stay with me and Katara," Kanna says, eyeing the three Fire Nation teenagers carefully. She has only known brutality from the Fire Nation, but she showed kindness to Mai, and she will show kindness to these three. "We will be watching you. Be careful not to harm us."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Azula says with a slight bitterness in her tone. "Do you have any warmer clothes?"

"Of course, I didn't catch your name."

"Azula... Pri... just Azula," Azula says and Ty Lee frowns. Mai even feels something twist in her gut at Azula's defeated tone.

"It's already getting dark. We'll settle in for the night, get you three dressed and we can discuss the terms of your stay here at breakfast," Kanna explains, ducking into her house.

Azula glances at Mai and Katara. "We presumably have much to discuss."

"Let's just go to sleep for tonight, Azula," Mai says with a strange tenderness Azula dislikes.

"Hmph," Azula responds, sticking her hands into the pockets of her blue parka.

"Your clothes match your fire," Ty Lee offers and Zuko snorts. Azula shoots him such a vicious glance that he coughs and looks away.

Katara and Mai also have much to discuss with Zuko. But Katara watches Zuko get into bed with Mai and finds herself in the bed beside Korra's cradle. She hates how _angry _she feels about seeing Zuko. She should be happy to see her friend. But... seeing Mai with him fills her with the bile of rage.

She tries to fall asleep.

"I have never been wrapped in so many _blankets_," Azula says, shivering as she clutches the furs. She pulls them around herself, despite her several layers of clothes.

"It's cold here," Ty Lee says, as if it is a brilliant observation. Azula's teeth are chattering as she rests her head on Ty Lee's shoulder and tries to go to sleep.

Ty Lee reaches for Azula's hand, taking it gently in hers. Azula does not slip her fingers away as they fall asleep in their icy igloo. They share each other's warmth in the cold and Ty Lee wonders if the South Pole will be the place Azula finds her recovery and redemption.

But before Ty Lee can think it through fully, she is also asleep.


	9. The Sins of the Father

Chapter Nine: The Sins of the Father

* * *

><p>Azula wakes up feeling sick again.<p>

She started out by breathing fire into her hands to try to warm herself in the horrifically frigid morning, and then she felt feverish and her hands were pooling with vomit. Not the best way to start the morning.

"It's your transition to going from wiping out these people to relying on their support," Zuko says as she hurls into a dented tin pot. "It isn't going to be pleasant."

"Well, aren't─" Azula is interrupted by another surge of vomit. Her stomach contracts and her eyes swell with tears as she murmurs, crumbling, coughing between the forced flow of bile, _"Daddy help..." _Azula coughs and continues, "aren't you an expert on my life."

Zuko feels unnerved by her cries for her father in her illness, but he sits with her as he should, as Ty Lee explains everything that happened to Mai and Katara. Azula's stomach is finally emptied, even of the lime green bile, and she is shaking. Her teeth are sore from the acid and her throat is raw and dry.

"I need to wash my mouth," she says regally, pushing away from the bed and forcing a clump of snow between her lips. It gives her teeth a searing pain, as the enamel is worn from them from vomiting, but her mouth tastes somewhat better after rinsing with snow and drinking some tea. Or _whatever _this Water Tribe excuse for tea is.

"Zuko, I need to talk to you," Mai says as Ty Lee continues explaining to Katara. She sits beside her boyfriend as Azula swishes and spits the Water Tribe tea repeatedly. "It's about Katara."

Zuko looks up at her. His cheeks flush slightly at the sight of Mai, and he cannot express in words how happy he is to see her alive. She even looks beautiful bundled up beyond belief in fur and fabric to keep herself warm. She was his first, his last and his everything.

"Anything," Zuko says, touching Mai's gloved hand.

Mai purses her lips and Zuko feels a lump in his throat. This cannot be good news.

"Katara and I... we've... been a couple for a while now," Mai says and Zuko makes a loud choking sound. The three other girls in the room glance up, baffled by the noise. "I mean, I love you, Zuko. I broke out of prison to find you... but... I like her too..."

"What?" is all Zuko can summon. Azula cackles and Mai glares at her.

"We'll figure it out later," Mai says, standing up and pushing her way out of Kanna's house. Zuko still sits there, agape and confused. He does not know what to say; he does not know what he _can _say.

"What does she mean; we'll figure it out later?" Zuko asks everyone in the room. Azula laughs again and Katara gazes at the fur lined floor.

"So... you and Mai, huh?" Ty Lee asks Katara, who turns beet red.

"Yeah. We got pretty close in prison," Katara says, rubbing her neck awkwardly. Azula laughs again and Katara snaps, "You shut up!"

"You _cannot _tell me what to do, peasant," Azula mumbles but no one pays her any mind. She finishes rinsing out her mouth and lies down on she and Ty Lee's bed. This house is the most cramped place Azula has ever been in; she swears there are palanquins more spacious than this. But she supposes it keeps heat in.

"There's work to be done, you know," Katara says, glaring at Azula and Ty Lee, who are just lying around like the Queens of the Earth Kingdom.

"But it's cold," Ty Lee whines, batting her protuberant eyes. "You can't expect us to do anything in this weather."

"This is how it is _every day _here," Katara says, crossing her arms, her jaw jutting out. "If you two want our asylum, you're going to have to prove you have worth in our society."

Azula cocks an eyebrow; Ty Lee squirms uncomfortably. Whatever the plan is, Azula did not intend to get caught up in this Water Tribe nonsense. They exchange a glance, trying to figure out each other wordlessly. Finally, Azula sits up, takes a deep breath, feels as if she is going to throw up again, is certain she is developing a fever despite the brutal cold, and stands.

"Alright, we'll do whatever you ask," Azula says and Katara's lips part in surprise. Zuko shrugs when his companion glances at him. "Just tell us to, uh, gather firewood or whatever it is you people do."

"Gather... firewood? There's no firewood on the South Pole," Katara sighs, rolling her big blue eyes. "I don't know what you'll be doing. We have meetings in the morning to decide that kind of thing."

And so, Azula, who is feeling most uncomfortable surrounded by her opposite element, settles down around the fire that burns in the middle of the town. Her own fire is more reliable, but she has been keeping the "crazy blue firebending" on the down-low as Mai suggested, a whisper into her ear before they parted ways for bed last night.

Looking out at the tribe that has elected her their leader, Katara is glad for the boost in population from the Northern Tribe, many children play and many adults have taken on jobs to make the tribe boom again. And each one of them, man, woman and child, stare at Zuko, Azula and Ty Lee with hatred and distrust.

Azula is used to it; she yawns and waits for Katara to start talking. Quaint that the water peasant has accepted leadership of her little tribe. Azula is glad she spared these people; they are a waste of time. But she cannot help but look at every baby and wonder which one is the Avatar. Kanna holds Korra, who Ty Lee keeps cooing about being so _cute_. Azula does not care which one is cute: she cares which one will secure her the throne.

While Ty Lee is starting to befriend people by day two, Zuko looks as uncomfortable as his sister. He keeps gazing at Mai and Katara with a vacant expression and Azula smirks at it.

"Did you expect that from them?" Zuko murmurs into Azula's shoulder. She shrugs and nearly hits his nose with her bony shoulder.

"I don't know. Destiny is a funny thing," Azula says, smirking smugly and making Zuko grumble obscenities to himself. "Just let them be happy. Maybe they'll let you have a threesome with them."

Zuko pointedly turns away. Azula shrugs and squints at Ty Lee. She is befriending a group of villagers, much to Azula's distaste. Katara watches the royal siblings from afar and finds it funny how the tables have turned. She takes too much pleasure in this, to her guilty feelings.

Katara walks around, assigning everyone tasks. From watch, to hunting, to working on the new sector of houses for the rapidly growing families. Azula, Ty Lee and Zuko are fallen on last. Katara screws up her face when she comes across them.

"You can hunt arctic seals with them over there," Katara says, pointing. Zuko's lip curls in a small snarl of discomfort but Azula simply shrugs. "Hurry up. You have to go before the sun gets too high."

Azula stands up, stumbling slightly on the snow, and she, her brother and her girlfriend join a group of men and women on a hunt for food. Princess Azula finds it _almost _exciting, although she is displeased with joining the Water Tribe. Ty Lee claims this place will be good for her, that she can be liberated from her past here. But Azula begs to differ. She just wants to find the Avatar and escape.

Azula and Zuko are in a canoe together, paddling. Zuko paddles too forcefully; Azula tries to hard to be in control. They are getting absolutely nowhere, and the harpoon is completely dry.

"I'm just going to melt that ice and maybe just broil some fish until they float to the surface," Azula says, setting the paddle on her lap and lighting two hands.

"I think our hosts might frown upon that." Zuko heaves the paddle and the canoe goes flying forward, knocking Azula over. "They seem pretty... not burn everything in sight to get what they want - ish."

"Ugh, I don't even know why we're being so nice to these people." Azula picks up her paddle again and tries to row in time with her brother.

"They're taking us in even though our Nation committed genocide against their people. We might like it here, Azula. You never know," Zuko says and Azula shrugs.

"Being nice to these people is making me vomit. I feel like I'm going to hurl right now."

"Please don't," Zuko says, paddling more slowly. He does not want to be puked on by his sister.

"I know it's a waiting game. I just have to wait, find the Avatar, and then reclaim my throne with blood and fire," Azula says regally and Zuko fights the urge to sigh. He wishes she could see that her life may be better not as Fire Lord.

"Being banished was the best thing that could have happened to me," Zuko offers, pushing off on an iceberg to turn the canoe. Azula jolts and feels bile rise in her throat, but she swallows it.

"That's your case, ZuZu. I'm not the _exile _type. I've done nothing but sacrifice my own well being for my nation. I _am _the Fire Nation. And I will rule over them as I was born to do," Azula says, a melodramatic speech that it is far too early in the morning for Zuko to be hearing. "It's just not the right time to strike."

She sighs and Zuko realizes that she is genuinely upset. He saw her going off the rails more times than he can count since the comet came and went. She has improved slightly since father kicked her out ─ not that Zuko would tell her that ─ and he thinks that maybe Azula could be more like him than he thought.

_If it weren't for father_ seems to be the name of the game.

"The only way we win is together," Zuko says and Azula feels goosebumps rise on her skin that are not from the cold. "If we work together, you'll have your throne back."

"Don't... don't mock me," Azula says sharply, paddling too hard and splashing Zuko with cold water. He rubs it off of his parka.

"I mean it," Zuko says and Azula contemplates his words.

Perhaps her brother could be an ally. In a world where Azula is an exile of the Fire Nation, anything is possible.

The next morning Azula wakes up more ill than usual. Katara has her lie in bed as Kanna looks after her, and she has been shouting and making demands like the princess she is all morning. Mai is about to slap her.

"See, being nice to people makes me physically sick," Azula snarls, lying down on the bed as Kanna hovers over her with a variety of potions and instruments. "I should never have come here."

Ty Lee is beside her, holding her hand. Azula would never admit it, but it makes her feel much better. She loves Ty Lee at her side and it kills her to feel that way about anyone. To have someone be _that _important to her. Detaching herself from her humanity was the key to greatness, and Ty Lee makes her feel incredibly human.

"Is she going to be okay?" Zuko asks as if he cares. Azula rolls her eyes so forcefully she thinks they will pop out of her head. "She has definitely not looked so good."

Azula has not looked good since the comet. Since she started having hallucinations and panic attacks and nightmares. A little vomiting is nothing compared to what her brain has put her through. She will live.

"Have you had intercourse?" Kanna asks and Katara cringes with her tongue stuck out. Gran-Gran saying _intercourse _is gross.

"No. Well, I mean, with her, yes. But that doesn't really count when it's two girls," Azula says, gesturing feebly at Ty Lee.

Korra starts to cry and Azula rolls her eyes again. That infant gets on her nerves and she has only been at the Water Tribe for three days. Azula was never very good with children, although she may be a master at dealing with adults twice her age.

"Are you sure, Azula?" Kanna asks, looking displeased. Azula scoffs, one eyebrow shooting up.

"How dare ─ how dare you peasants accuse me of infidelity! There is _no way _I'm pregnant, no matter what you people think," Azula snarls as Ty Lee bites on her lip so hard it bleeds. Katara smirks to herself before feeling guilt wash over her.

"All of the signs say you are," Kanna says warmly but sharply. "About two months in."

Azula sighs. "No, there's absolutely no way."

But there is. There is and Azula knows it and she knows that everybody can see it in her eyes. She is putting little effort into her lies because there is no way she can hide a pregnancy forever. Her situation is futile.

"Azula... why would you do that to me?" Ty Lee murmurs, barely a whisper. Azula sits up, tossing aside Kanna's instruments.

And she leaves the igloo, ready to abandon the Water Tribe and find some other way to reclaim the throne.

Azula plods through the snow, biting back tears. She is _strong_; she cannot feel this way. But she can feel her sibling in her like a parasite as she makes her way towards the docked steel ship. The crew has made a home of it with the help of the Water Tribe; they are all exiles, all like Former Fire Lord Azula.

She has lost everything in one foul swoop. And now she does not know. She cannot fathom what the next step is, and she always thinks ahead. She is _always _ahead of the game but now she is left in the dust by factors out of her control. Factors like this _pregnancy_.

She is going to rip it from her body. A cesarean with a knife; she does not care at this point. Princess Azula has never felt so enraged before in her life.

"Azula!" screams a voice behind her but she keeps walking. Exhaling smoke, trying to keep herself warm, she continues walking towards the ship in the distance. "Azula, please! Wait!"

Gritting her teeth, the princess turns around. Ty Lee stumbles towards her, tripping over her cobalt parka. Azula swallows, her lips pursed.

_Do not cry. Do not cry. Crying is for the weak. Do not cry. Do not cry._

"Azula, you can't just leave." Ty Lee's gloved hands interweave with Azula's bare and pink fingers. "I'm not angry at you. I'm sure... I'm sure you had a good reason. Please. We can do this together."

"You would accept some child that isn't even yours?" Azula replies viciously, shaking her head with a furrowed brow. "That's ridiculous."

"I would. Because it's yours and I would want it to be mine anyway." Ty Lee leans in to kiss Azula and Azula turns away. With a sigh, the acrobat steps back slightly. "It's going to be okay. Just let me do this with you."

"I'm alone. I've always been alone and it isn't as if I can trust you," Azula says sharply, her tone shrill enough to shatter the ice.

Ty Lee frowns, eyes glittering. "You've never been alone, Azula. There are people who love you, no matter what you do. _I _love you. I always will."

Azula takes a deep breath. She feels on the verge of hyperventilating and she does not know how to take in the information.

"No... it's ridiculous. I can't love and you'd be better off finding somebody else," Azula snaps and Ty Lee smiles. _Smiles_?

"I don't think I could." Ty Lee shrugs, still not releasing Azula from her grasp. "I didn't leave you in New Ozai City and I'm not going to leave you now. This is _our _baby and we're going to do this together."

Ty Lee presses her lips against Azula's and Azula does not pull away. She sinks into the touch of warm lips. The tears start flowing and she glances around to make sure no one is watching. Ty Lee wipes them from her face as they turn ice cold.

"You're one sick, masochistic girl, Ty Lee," Azula says airily, attempting a laugh and failing.

"Only as much as you are," Ty Lee responds, kissing Azula again. She pulls away when it is over and they simply stare at each other.

Azula contemplates revealing the father of her child. But the words stick in her throat and she decides against it. Some secrets, she supposes, will go with her to the grave.

The two girls make their way back to the village, hand in hand. Azula looks around and she only just notices how nice this place is. It seemed like some disgusting hovel for peasants at first, but then she realizes that it sparkles in the sunlight, the snow blindingly white and the ice ornately carved. The fire crackles and burns even in this frigid conditions.

Maybe this is not as terrible a place as Azula imagined, she is loath to admit.

Perhaps, here is the place she will recover.

Perhaps, this place will be like the lake to her.

The next day, preparations start being made for a house for Azula and Ty Lee. Azula is on edge; she only planned to stay long enough to capture the Avatar. But now she is helping melt ice to build a house for she and her girlfriend. She is _pregnant _and never did she think her life would turn in this direction. Living amongst the _Water Tribe _of all people, and befriending her brother.

"Don't work yourself too hard, with the baby," Kama says to Azula, rubbing her back. Azula grimaces at the unwanted contact from the furry gloves.

"I'm perfectly competent regardless of if there's a little parasite in me," Azula purrs sweetly and Kama recoils slightly. "I've been bending for as long as I remember. I think I can _melt _some _ice_."

Zuko cringes. And then he laughs. Azula shoots him a vicious glare as he heaves the next piece of furniture. It is sculpted of bone, which Azula must admit she likes. None of this compares to the royal palace, but she will be there soon enough. Once her child is born, she will return to the Fire Nation and claim what is hers with blood and fire.

Meanwhile, Mai and Katara are tending to Korra.

"Are we allowed to tell Azula who the Avatar is?" Mai asks earnestly and Katara's eyes bulge.

"_Why _would we ever do that? The only reason she came here is to kill Korra," Katara says, shaking her head slowly. Mai purses her lips. "What else could she want, Mai? Are you best friends with her again? I mean, _come on_."

"Yeah, alright, I know," Mai sighs, examining the tiny, babbling Avatar. "She'll find out eventually, though."

Katara pauses. Mai might be right.

"Maybe we should be making some kind of amends with her. Zuko seems to be," Mai says and Katara clenches her jaw. "I miss her, Katara. She's terrible and spoilt and selfish, but I miss her, and she got thrown out of her home. She _has _to change, or she won't ever get her throne back."

Katara says nothing more. Because Mai seems to only have eyes for Zuko, and Katara hates how jealous she feels. It is shameful of her to have the metallic taste of envy on her tongue. But it is there all the same, and Mai is nowhere near making her mind up about who she wants to be with.

Azula is sitting in the center of town, making intricate ice sculptures with blue flame as children spy on her from the other side of the bonfire. Someone sits down beside her and she expects Ty Lee, but, instead, it is Mai. Azula is stunned, glancing up.

"Do you need something?" Azula asks, cocking an eyebrow. Mai shrugs.

"You've been acting kinda... nice to people," Mai says, rubbing her neck awkwardly. "You must be pretty desperate."

"I'm not Fire Lord anymore. I'm banished and exiled. I have to find some way to get what I want, even if it means befriending a tribe of peasants." Pause. "Even if it means befriending you again."

"Do you remember how we met?" Mai chuckles and Azula smirks. "I asked you where you were from. And then I got embarrassed and complimented your, uh, how did I phrase it: hair accessory or something."

Azula is laughing now. "You are _so _lucky you sat next to me that day or you would be some kind of depressing loner. Now you're a depressing person with three friends. What an accomplished young woman."

"Shut up," Mai snaps, shrugging her shoulders. Snow flutters down from them and turns to water on her lap.

"I'm sorry for trying to murder you and throwing you in prison," Azula says regally and Mai is stunned. She never has heard an apology from Azula once in her life. "It was probably a poor decision."

"I'm sorry for hitting you with that steak knife," Mai says and they both sit in silence for a moment. "So... you and Ty Lee? I kinda called it."

"You and the water peasant shocks me much more," Azula says, shaking her head slowly with a small smile on one side of her mouth. "Have you chosen her or Zuko yet?"

"No. One step at a time for me." Silence. "Do you want to be friends again?"

Azula shrugs. "I suppose I have nothing to lose."

And that day, Azula takes the first step towards recovery, in the bitterly cold Water Tribe, the opposite of her element.

"Do you still want this baby?" Ty Lee asks as they take a break from putting together the house. Azula has actually been enjoying herself figuring out where everything will go. It is a level of control that she has not had since she was Fire Lord.

"Not really," Azula says with a shrug. She sighs. "I'm... I'm just going to accept it. If I were going to... marry you... I would need an heir anyway once I'm Fire Lord."

Ty Lee blushes. _Marry me? _Azula seems loath to admit it but she does anyway.

Still, Azula feels the sensation of fire flakes popping inside of her at times and wants to tear herself open with her fingernails. This is sick; this is wrong. This is her sister or brother that will think she is mother and drink from her breast and it disturbs her.

It delays her recovery, in Ty Lee and Mai's opinion. But they both have made it their job to reclaim their friendship with Azula. Mostly by brutally mocking and gossiping about other members of the tribe.

But Azula has a dream that changes her mind about the infant.

_"Avatar?" Azula asks, walking through an eerie version of the royal palace. She sees Avatar Aang sitting on a dusty old chair._

_"I want to talk to you about your baby," Aang says and Azula purses her lips. "It's going to save the Avatar's life."_

_Azula scoffs. "If I'm going to be Fire Lord, I'm going to have to slay the Avatar once he or she is in the Avatar state."_

_Avatar Aang smirks smugly, as if he knows something she does not. If it were not a dream, she would burn the smile off of his face._

_"Destiny is a funny thing. And your child is destined to save the Water Tribe Avatar. Which _may _help you in ways you don't understand." Avatar Aang laughs as if it is funny._

Azula wakes with a jolt. The dream was vivid and strangely real. Maybe Ty Lee was on to something when she talked about her crazy dream. She glances out of Kanna's window at the house that is being built for her and contemplates destiny for a moment. Perhaps the Avatar will help her rise to power. She does not know.

It is these decisions, she supposes, that shape the self she is becoming.

A week later, Azula and Ty Lee have a Water Tribe home to themselves. It looks beautiful, Azula must admit. She settles in the bed and wraps the blankets around herself after lightning the fire. She maintains it in blue, focused on the flame to keep from thinking too hard about how acclimated she is getting to the Water Tribe.

Every day this week she climbed to a certain point on the icy mountains. She trained in the cold, hot fire clashing with bitter cold wind. And she felt more alive than she had since the comet streaked across the sky and stole her life with it. These people are kind to her even though she does not have the ability to have them executed or banished.

"You're going to think I'm crazy when I say this," Azula says as Ty Lee locks the door and sits down on the bed. "But I... I think I'm happy here."

"No more crazy than usual." Ty Lee pecks her on the cheek. "You've stopped having nightmares. You haven't woken up screaming in two weeks."

It only occurs to Azula when she says it. Clearly, this whole Water Tribe thing was not such a bad idea at all. Once she regains her strength and stops being such a basket case, the throne might as well walk into her hands. She will take it with blood and fire, and tonight she claims Ty Lee with fingernails, lips and flesh.

Azula kisses Ty Lee's neck and she giggles. It is a terrible sound but Azula ignores it, peeling back some of the incredible amount of layers. Ty Lee shivers in the cold, and Azula heats up her hands just enough to warm someone, but not enough to light ablaze.

"Okay, that feels nice..." Ty Lee murmurs, mostly to herself, as the heated hands of her girlfriend explore her body and remove more of the endless underclothes.

Azula sinks her teeth into Ty Lee's lips, into her neck. Ty Lee gasps, unsure why she is just surrendering. Azula pushes her onto the bed, wriggling out of her own layers of underclothes. Thank agni for a firebender's regulation of body temperature.

A thousand kisses that literally burn from Azula's lips. One for every inch of Ty Lee's body. She feels alive; she feels vibrant. She does not feel like the hollow shell she was such a short time ago. It is almost as if she is at the lake again, her hair braided with flowers and covered in hickeys from her prisoner.

They grind against each other, their lips hit and miss. Ty Lee's hands slip straight to Azula's cleavage, to pallid, creamy skin and hard pink nipples. And Azula moans and exhales smoke as she is tossed onto her back. Ty Lee kisses her navel and Azula feels torn from the element of sensuality. In there, lurks her sibling.

"I..." Azula murmurs as Ty Lee slips down on her. "I feel kind of weird about this with the baby."

Ty Lee pauses just as she is about to go down on Azula. She pops up, sitting above the sprawled, naked body of Former Fire Lord Azula.

"It's not like it can feel this," Ty Lee says, shrugging. Azula purses her lips.

"I can't stop thinking about it now." Suddenly, she is very cold and so is Ty Lee.

"We don't have to if you don't want to," Ty Lee says and Azula pauses.

"No... I'll manage. You continue."

Ty Lee smirks.

Two weeks later, in the early morning, Ty Lee wakes to Azula crying. She is trying to hide it, wrapped in the blankets. Ty Lee hesitates, wondering if she will be lashed out at if she asks.

"Are you okay?" Ty Lee murmurs, touching Azula's abdomen. She is showing slightly now.

"I just had a nightmare," Azula murmurs, swallowing. She feel about to spiral into a full blown panic attack, but could not handle that embarrassment. She is supposed to be strong. She is supposed to claim her throne with blood and fire.

"About?" Ty Lee murmurs, stroking Azula's cheek.

"My father." Silence. Azula's heart races. "I... I have to tell you who the father of m-_our _baby is."

"He can't ever hurt you again. Nobody can," Ty Lee whispers and Azula feels patronized. With a snarl on her lips, she sits up, one hand resting on her abdomen.

"I won't _let _him get the chance. When I return to the Fire Nation, I will strangle him. I won't fight him; he doesn't deserve a dignified death. I will strangle him and his bones will pop under my hands." Pause. Ty Lee gulps. "Crack, crack, _crack_."

They are in silence for some time.

Ty Lee murmurs, her heart fluttering with fear, "He's the father, isn't he?"

Azula pauses. Every instinct in her wants to lie. Lying is easy. Lies have always been easier than the truth.

"Yes," Azula says faintly, unsure what the response will be.

But Ty Lee pulls her into her arms and holds her for a long time. Gradually, the tears return. Azula sinks into Ty Lee and clings to her like a child, her body shaking with sobs. She has never told anyone before; she swore never to tell anyone. It feels... strange to have someone know something so shameful about her. But it also feels like a single stitch over a gaping wound.

"You're going to get better," Ty Lee whispers in Azula's ear, and Azula wants nothing more than to believe her.

In the morning, she climbs the mountains again, although it is getting harder.

She stands there for a moment, hair billowing in the cold, removed from the Fire Nation topknot. She moves to train, but stops for a moment and simply studies the blinding sun over the glistening ocean. Her hands are not shaking. She has not felt the swelling of anxiety that leaves her gasping for breath like a fish out of water for three weeks.

_Home_. It has been a month here in this forsaken chunk of ice. And it feels more like home than the empty halls of the palace ever did.

She pauses, smiling faintly. But she quickly wipes the smile from her face and starts training.

Even if she has found a home, she will take the throne.

That is a necessity.


	10. The Black Snow

Chapter Ten: The Black Snow

* * *

><p>"Can you do that thing with your hands again? I'm so cold," is what Azula wakes to.<p>

Every morning, for a flicker of a second she believes she is at home in the palace. That she will wake up to the gilded candelabra above her plush crimson bed. But she is not. She is in the cold and desolate South Pole, in a meager home, in a bed lined with so much fur she cannot remember what silk felt like.

A tongue is in Azula's mouth before she can even yawn. Someone is becoming a morning person and Azula does not know if she is fan of it. Or maybe she really is just that cold.

She is pulled onto her knees by the slender fingers of Ty Lee. Azula barely moves and barely breathes, slipping her hand behind her girlfriend's back. Azula strips away Ty Lee's clothes, heating her hands slowly as she does and touching the cold skin. A moan in response and Azula smirks.

"Don't let go of me," Ty Lee murmurs and Azula swallows, making patterns on the acrobat's skin with feverish fingers.

Their lips touch. Again. Again.

And they melt into each other, naked and hot against the cold morning.

"Well someone's having a pleasant morning," comes the voice of Katara as soon as Azula makes it to the bonfire in the center of town. Azula notices she has started referring to her enemy by first name internally, and it unnerves her. She does not like how comfortable she has become with her new home. Nor how comfortable she has become with her steady girlfriend and her brother or sister pressing against her abdomen. And _especially _the fact that, while Katara will make scathing remarks and is clearly suspicious of Azula, they have not tried to murder each other.

"Shh, early," Mai says, pushing one hand over Katara's mouth feebly. Zuko has a glint of jealousy in his eyes that only Azula catches. Mai can only juggle a boyfriend and a girlfriend for so long, and Azula thinks she will enjoy watching it crash and burn.

"I want to show the Fire Nation Foursome something," Katara says, looking at the sleepy bunch. For a Nation that conquered the world, they are awfully lazy. Even the usually rambunctious and eager for praise Ty Lee barely gets off her back. "I think you'll find it interesting."

Azula suppresses a sigh. She is incredibly proud of herself for not making a _snarky _remark.

"Alright, show us, peasant," Azula says and Zuko squints at her. He decides the argument is not worth it, and bickering with his sister is far behind him. Too much has come to pass for him to get caught up correcting her blatant terribleness.

Katara nods, seizes Mai by the arm, and the quintet sets off into the blinding white snow.

"Where are we going?" Azula demands regally and Katara rolls her eyes. "You can't just take us out into the middle of ─ that's a Fire Nation ship."

Azula's eyes widen slightly at the decrepit ship trapped in the ice. It looks immovable and frozen to the spot like a boulder in the Earth Kingdom. It has an eerie... life to it which Azula cannot explain. The tattered flags billow in the harsh southern wind.

"This is the ship that set off the flare that brought Zuko here the first time," Katara says, glancing at the former prince. Zuko rubs his neck.

"I'm really sorry about that," Zuko says, taking a deep breath. Azula is amazed at how much _guilt _he can feel, coming from the same source as her. The same source as the child within her that she cannot quite feel, but knows is there.

"It's okay. It isn't like you ever won or anything," Katara says with a smirk and Zuko shakes his head. She clambers into the ship and gestures for Mai, Ty Lee, Azula and Zuko to follow.

"You know, you say you're so bad at being good... but you weren't really that great at being _bad _either," Azula says sweetly and Zuko grits his teeth. Katara snickers, nodding in response.

"I made my mistakes," Zuko grumbles, stepping further into the ship. Mai follows him, nearly stepping on his ankles.

They explore the ship for a while, trading stories. Acting like friends.

_Acting like friends, _despite the fact that this ship is the product of a nation that the four Fire Nation teenagers perpetuated and supported. Azula is stunned by it, and keeps to herself to avoid becoming too... attached. They treat her so well in this tribe, but she has no absolute power. She does not understand why people talk to her if they aren't just scared of her.

It baffles her as they spend the morning in the ghostly ship.

They laugh, like friends and Azula does not remember the last time she was this happy. The last time she felt like she belonged. And oddly enough, it is with her brother, a water peasant and the two people who betrayed her and left her to spiral downward.

Azula's nightmares are slowing. Her relationship is becoming gradually more healthy. The mixed feelings for her pregnancy are pushed to the back of her mind, although she knows she will have to make choices eventually. But she feels like it is all going to crumble somehow.

Her new life will be in ruins someday.

After the trip to the boat, Azula finds herself in she and Ty Lee's home. It reeks of isolation and the whispers about the two of them. Of Azula's premarital pregnancy, and of the soldiers she ordered to kill their fathers and of her odd relationship with Ty Lee. _Whispers_. Always _whispers_.

Ty Lee walks in, still laughing at Kama's joke. She shuts the door and smiles at Azula, before her genuine grin instantly fades. The princess is lying in bed and staring at the ceiling with glassy eyes.

Slowly, Ty Lee sits beside her. "You're not alright, are you?"

"I don't know what I am." Azula's words are bitter and chiding, but also faded and somehow distant. Ty Lee does not truly understand it. "I just know that I can feel my father's claws on my throat and spine and... stomach. I need to take the throne but..."

"You don't want it as much as you used to," Ty Lee whispers and Azula laughs mirthlessly.

"I _want _it more than I've ever wanted it. I just have a lot on my mind," Azula says, starting to stand up and deciding against it. "He's stronger than me. I don't think I'll defeat him. I don't think I'll ever strangle him like he has _throttled _me so many times. I still sometimes hallucinate bruises on my neck when looking at my reflection in the water."

Ty Lee squirms. Azula _never _talks about her feelings, as much as the acrobat tries to get her to open up. But when she does hear it, she finds herself disturbed by Azula's monotone voice as she describes the horrors in her head and the monster under her bed.

"He can't take everything from you," Ty Lee says and Azula snorts derisively. She sits up slowly, shaking her head and looking morbidly amused. "He _can't_. I know he hurt you. I know you talk about him in your sleep and he has done things to you that you're probably never going to really come to terms with but you are _stronger than him_."

"Yes, I'm powerful. My bending is prodigious and my tactics impeccable. I _know _how to win a fight. I _always _win." Azula stands up, kicking the floor and scraping her boot on the rug. The hideous rug that she burns as Ty Lee shields her face from the blaze. "But he's stronger."

Ty Lee stares at her, unsure what to say. If there is anything she _can _say.

"Whatever you are or whatever anybody did to you, I'm always going to love you," Ty Lee says as if it is any consolation.

Azula stands there, staring at the fireplace. She looks distant. Things have been going so well and something has clearly upset her.

"It moved inside of me," Azula says finally, the words constricted as she tries to force them out of her mouth. "I don't know what's right or real anymore."

"But you're you. You don't have to be perfect but nothing is ever going to defeat you," Ty Lee says lightly and loudly as she steps towards Azula and drags her into her arms. The princess briefly resists, but then caves in to the movement.

"I'm Princess Azula the Conqueror. Nothing stands in my way. I take what I want and I..." Her body is shaking with sobs, Ty Lee realizes in horror. "... I take what I want and even if a traitor is sitting on my throne, I have the divine right to rule."

Her words have force even though they are punctuated by quavering sobs.

And then she crumbles into tears that Ty Lee has never seen as they cling to each other.

"She's doing surprisingly well," Katara says hours later, tossing stones into the ocean from a perch. She sits beside Zuko, who she is attempting to teach how to fish. He is not picking it up very quickly.

"Who?" Zuko asks calmly, although he knows.

"Azula. She hasn't tried to murder anybody. I mean, I wish she would shut her mouth about reclaiming her throne with blood and fire, but if her delusions keep her from genocide, I mean..." Katara shrugs and readjusts Zuko's hand. "This doesn't mean I like her. This just means I'm pleasantly surprised. She killed Aang. And tortured Suki. And hit you with lightning. And this could continue all day..."

"I don't think it's a delusion," Zuko replies earnestly, tugging on the line although there is no fish biting it. "I think she needs to take the throne."

"What happened to your Uncle's speech about you being the Fire Lord? When he sent us off to our deaths," Katara says wryly, squinting at the empty hook.

"The Fire Nation loves Azula. She has the highest ratings since Sozin. When my father usurped her she started a riot with one sentence. He banished her because the people wanted her more than him."

"So you're scared." Katara frowns and Zuko shakes his head.

"I'm conniving, actually. Imagine if, instead of conquering the Universe, Azula's desire as a leader was to end the hostilities between the Nations. Imagine if Azula saw people other than herself as, well, people," Zuko says and Katara raises an eyebrow.

"I think you're pushing it," Katara sighs, taking the pole from him and casting it for him to stop watching him struggle.

"You just said you were surprised at how she's been acting. If you remove my father's claws from her neck, I think we could have a leader who the Fire Nation loves, and who has the uncanny ability to convince people to do whatever she wants them to. With our plan gone and Team Avatar broken, maybe Fire Lord Azula doesn't sound so bad for a Plan B," Zuko explains and Katara hates to admit he has a point. It is so much _easier _to blindly hate Azula than to see that she could have her merits.

She is an incredible weapon, whether used for good or evil.

"You really love your sister, don't you?" Katara remarks, setting down the pole and handing Zuko a spear. Maybe he will do better with that. Zuko shrugs.

"She isn't _like that _because of her own choosing. People aren't _born _evil; some people just learn very quickly," Zuko says and Katara laughs before feeling guilty. "Azula and I fight, yes, like any heirs to a _country_ would. She... look, she and I kind of _bonded _when our mother left. Our father was a common enemy until I was banished, even if neither of us would admit we hated him."

"Of course you two did. Sokka and I were always close in a tribe this size, but after what happened to our mother..."

"_Exactly_. I mean, our family politics were a bit more complicated than yours. But I want to help Azula. And there's a reason she didn't kill me during the comet." Silence. Zuko examines the spear that Katara handed him. "We have a mutual acknowledgement that the man who conceived us is an asshole."

Katara laughs again as Zuko nearly catches a fish. He sighs and sets the spear down.

"Maybe I'm not a fisherman," Zuko states, wiping his gross mittens on his pants. "The only problem is that, if my father is involved, he's really good at turning us against each other. He knows that if we're fighting each other we won't fight him."

"I don't think he's given up yet," Katara whispers, examining the spear to try to avoid Zuko's gaze.

"I don't either." Zuko stands up and tries to shake off the heavy conversation. "I'll try hunting seals. Maybe I'll be better at that."

Another day passes without much event.

"It's not your fault," Zuko says abruptly to Mai as she is eating breakfast. She cocks an eyebrow, confused as to what he could mean. For a month they have been sort of dating while Mai and Katara were also sort of dating and it has been utterly confusing. "You thought I was dead. If you love her..."

Mai swallows her food. She did not expect Zuko to confront her; he generally avoids conflict unless he is at the broiling point. But Mai finds he has changed since he stole away in the night to join the Avatar. He broke her heart but found himself and Mai does not know what to think about it.

"Look, you broke up with me in the skeeviest way possible. You left me a _note_. And you have a problem with me falling for somebody else?" Mai demands and Zuko is stunned. He thought he was making a gesture of goodwill.

"Mai, I... I became a better person. And you helped me─"

"Oh? I helped you become a better person? I'm not some kind of girl who can just get chewed up and spit out just so Hero Zuko can become a _better person_," Mai snarls as Zuko's heart palpitates. Her calm, careless, apathetic demeanor is gone. Her nails dig into the ice, freezing her fingers. "I like Katara and Katara likes me. You're going to have to deal with that."

Pause. Zuko is silent for a moment, contemplating his words carefully.

"I'm okay with that," Zuko says kindly and Mai furrows her brow. She seems altogether baffled by it. "If you love her, tell her. And be with her. I want you to be happy more than I want to be with you."

Mai does not know why it frustrates her, why it enrages her. But it does. Maybe she wants two people to be in love with her at once; she does not know. But her frustration simmers and she gets up, leaving Zuko behind in the snow. Her fingers tense as she walks into Katara's house and seals herself inside.

Emotions are complicated. _Love _is complicated and Mai is entirely done with it. She does not want either of them anymore. Not Katara with her tender kisses and their strange and powerful bond, not Zuko who she would have died for. Who she _almost _died for. She is done with both of them.

"What is it?" Katara touches her lips to Mai's and Mai does not respond. The waterbender pulls back, her weight resting on her heels. This is not good.

"I'm done with you and I'm done with Zuko. I can't do this anymore," Mai says sharply and Katara's lips part in surprise. She is left wordless as Mai buries herself in Zuko's bed and does not move.

Mai barely breathes, her form dark against blinding white fur and snow. Black hair splayed out like a corpse, pale skin out of place in this homogenous tribe that somehow _Azula _is fitting in to, but Mai is not.

Katara wants to fight; she wants to speak up and defend their relationship. But, instead, she simply returns to taking care of Korra. She is silent as Mai lies there like a corpse. Katara has hope that she will come around. She always does.

"You just need time," Katara says compassionately and Mai does not respond.

Too complicated.

The next week is uneventful as Mai signs herself on to jobs for the tribe that take her away from Katara and Zuko at all costs. It seems that the Fire Nation outcasts have become accepted, and Katara is glad of it, regardless of her deteriorating relationship with Mai.

But then, Zuko gets in a fight.

Bako calls Azula a slut.

And, well...

"Don't you _dare_ talk that way about my sister!" Zuko snarls, and before Katara can say anything or Ty Lee can intervene, Zuko's fist collides with Bako's face. The Northerner who moved South is sent reeling backwards, colliding with the snow.

Zuko steps back, breathing heavily and looking at the blood on his knuckles. Katara swallows; she knows Zuko was justified, but the tribe will not take kindly to a Fire Nation citizen punching Bako.

Former Prince Zuko steps forward, his foot digging into the ice.

"Never talk about my sister that way again, or I won't restrain myself like I just did," he says, fists clenched and chest proud. Mai blinks several times too quickly.

Azula does not know what to say for the first time in her life. Her lips are parted in surprise as she can only stare at her brother. He takes several steps backwards as Bako does not get up. In fact, the Water Tribe man bursts into tears from the blow he suffered.

"Thank you," Azula says softly and Zuko is more shocked than she is. They exchange a glance for a moment, locking eyes, and then Zuko walks off, overwhelmed by what he just did.

Ty Lee grabs Azula's arm tenaciously and holds it. "Are you okay?"

"Of course. Of course I am." She looks at Bako as if he is some kind of sea slug, and then brushes past Katara and Mai on her way home with Ty Lee.

After the fight with Bako, two weeks pass smoothly. Azula has been at the point in her life where days did not matter, but those were days she could not get out of bed, even when her Nation needed her. Here, everything has a routine and an order. There are no complex politics as the choice is working together or dying of cold. The harsh change makes the time Azula spends here seem both fast and engulfing.

But, although her life has improved here, Azula has never been somewhere as _boring _as the Southern Water Tribe. She thought that haunting the palace as a youth and as a Fire Lord, lonely and stalked by shadows was dull, but this place is like a charming village where _nothing _ever happens.

"I do not want to hold that child," Azula says regally and Kanna fights the urge to roll her eyes. If anyone frustrates her in this world, it is the Fire Nation Princess. Mostly because she acts like a princess when she lives amongst peasants.

"Are you going to hold your child?" Kanna asks, setting Korra back down. Azula shrugs in response. She does not particularly like the old woman; mostly because Azula _hates _being mothered. "Why do you dislike being cared for, girl? Didn't you ever have a mother?"

Azula hesitates. She has never been spoken to so bluntly, much less about Ursa, whom the entire Fire Nation actively pretended didn't exist. Speaking about Ursa was a one way ticket to prison or a beheading, and Azula finds herself tongue tied.

"My mother died when I was eleven," Azula responds as articulately as she can. Kanna squints at her for a moment, and then returns to folding Katara's clothes. It's a lie; Azula knows very well.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kanna replies, her tone brusque although she is a kindhearted woman. She is the type of grandmother who loves the tribe like they are all her children, but also will be the first to tell a kid with a scraped knee to suck it up and walk it off.

"I was glad of it," Azula says honestly as Korra is mouthing words at her. "I hated her."

Kanna looks up at Azula in utter disgust, as she stops folding the tattered blue clothing. "You hated your mother?"

Azula pauses, feeling slightly feverish despite the cold. "She thought I was a monster." Pause. "She was right, of course, but it still hurt."

Rehearsed words. She has said them many times before. Even able to get the little laugh at the end to sound believable. As if it is only a scrape that fades instead of a gaping wound that never fully healed.

"Katara lost her mother too," Kanna continues calmly, not unnerved by Azula's words as most are. Azula's eyes flicker for a moment. Her first thought is how to utilize that against Katara, but then it hits her like a punch to the gut that Katara is no longer her enemy.

Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, daughter of Ursa and Ozai, great-granddaughter of Fire Lord Sozin, is a member of the Southern Water Tribe. Korra tugs on her again and Azula makes a snarling noise that frightens the boisterous child.

"You should marry that girl," Kanna remarks loudly and Korra claps her hands as if she understands. "She clearly loves you despite your... less than appealing qualities."

"Excuse me. My _what_?" Azula asks menacingly, but the old woman is not deterred in the slightest by the malevolent glint in Azula's golden eyes.

"You're spoilt and selfish and controlling. Not to mention your reckless disregard for the well being of anybody but yourself, and the fact that you think you can just use people and they won't notice," Kanna says and Azula's almond-shaped eyes are like saucers. "I mean, you're pretty and well spoken. But pretty and well spoken can't make up for such a rotten personality."

Azula's jaw is ajar as she watches Kanna simply fold clothes. She sets a torn parka aside and sets a bone needle on top of it. All the while, Azula can only stare. Korra giggles and tugs on Azula's elbow.

"Stop it! Stop it, peasant child!" Azula hisses and Korra laughs again.

"I'll tell you how the people in the Water Tribe propose. You have to make her a betrothal necklace, first. And then present it to her," Kanna says in a flat tone to rival Mai's. "And you should do it fast before some handsome boy snatches her up."

"I am much more attractive than everyone in this tribe," Azula says haughtily, but her voice quavers. Korra tugs on her again. "I am a _princess_. How could she do better than a _princess_, Kanna?"

Kanna makes a small humming sound and shrugs.

Silence. Korra giggles again.

"So... about these betrothal necklaces?" Azula asks softly, cocking an eyebrow.

The day after Azula's uncomfortable conversation with Kanna, she finds herself sitting on the foot of Mai's bed like a cat. Katara groggily let her inside as she was going out to go practice her waterbending. Azula does not understand how to phrase what she needs in words; they did not train her how to voice these sorts of things in her speaking lessons.

"Oh, _fuck_, Azula?" Mai demands softly, sitting straight up. Her fingers dart to her pillow, reaching for a knife. Azula stops her with one hand. "Please don't kill me this early in the morning. Did you just invite yourself into our house? I mean... princess..."

"I need your assistance, Mai," Azula says, her words forced and strained. Mai feels her heart beat a little faster. "I have no idea how to, erm... _carve _things."

"What do you need to carve? I mean, we all want to carve Bako's eyes out sometimes but one comment calling you a─"

"I need to carve a..." The words are stuck in Azula's mouth like glue. "...betrothal necklace."

And soon, Azula has dragged both Mai and Zuko to the abandoned Fire Nation ship.

"Azula, I'm not going to carve steel. I know I'm stronger than you two but I'm not going to do that," Zuko says as soon as Azula explains. "I have no reason to do this."

"I let you out of prison," Azula says sharply, crossing her arms.

"You let me out of prison so that you could trade me for your safety in places not occupied by the Fire Nation," Zuko says and Mai snorts.

"I didn't pursue you after you escaped my custody," Azula offers, raising an eyebrow.

"After torturing me for _weeks_ about where Aang was," Zuko replies and Mai smiles. She enjoys this greatly. "Azula, you have never done anything nice for me in my entire life."

"That's not true," Azula retorts bitterly, pouting slightly.

"Allow me to rephrase; you have never done anything nice for me that hasn't benefited you," Zuko responds calmly and Mai's smile widens.

"I've never done anything nice for anyone that hasn't benefited me," Azula replies instantly and Mai must admit she has a point. "But you're different, ZuZ─_Zuko_. Aren't you good and helpful and heroic now? Be my hero and carve me a chunk of steel out of that ship."

"There is a distinct difference between being good to other people and being subservient to other people," Zuko says forcefully and Azula clenches her jaw. She does not approve of being _spoken to _this way. "See, that's your problem. You hate helping people because you think it makes you lesser than them. It doesn't. You being exiled here has given you the opportunity to learn important lessons and better yourself. Just think about what I'm telling you─"

"Save the lecture. I'll do it myself," Azula interrupts sharply, clambering over a slope of snow and setting her palms against the ship.

"Zuko, please help her," Mai says flatly as the cold southern air is tinted with the acrid smell of melting metal. "She's going to melt a hole in the ice and we're going to drown."

Zuko pauses. "She didn't even learn anything from my─" Zuko is interrupted by the sound of ice cracking. Mai cocks an eyebrow. "Alright, Azula, I'll cut out the steel for you!"

Azula steps down, wiping her hands on her parka. She smirks faintly as Zuko climbs up and starts cutting.

"I softened it for you. That was helpful and kind to you," Azula says and Zuko rolls his eyes. Not worth it. "Look at me being good to others."

"Be quiet if you want be to do this for you," Zuko says, glancing back at Azula. She purses her lips, eyes flickering.

"It was a good lecture, Zuko," Mai offers feebly.

"You be quiet too," Zuko says and Mai raises her eyebrows. "_Please_."

And so the journey to the betrothal necklace begins.

"So what do you want the picture to be?" Mai asks, glancing at the hunk of steel Zuko serrated from the ship. She holds her sharpest, best knife that she supposes she will not get much use out of living in the middle of nowhere with no _action_.

"A dragon," Azula says and Zuko cocks an eyebrow. "What? She likes dragons."

"If that is a sex thing," Mai begins as Zuko slowly shakes his head, "then please continue; I'm intrigued."

Azula's cheeks flush. "You have an unhealthy interest in my sex life, Mai. I know you're jealous but I'm marrying Ty Lee."

Mai groans and starts outlining the dragon. Zuko rubs his sore muscles; even with all of the Water Tribe work he has been put to, trying to remove frozen steel from an archaic ship definitely taxed him.

"Azula, I hope that you learned something today," Zuko says, gesturing at his arms. "Being helpful to others even when they aren't helpful to you is─"

"You sound _so much _like Uncle. Why don't you try being more like me instead?" Azula says and Zuko sighs. Futile. Absolutely futile. "In the long run, who is more successful, _Uncle _or _me_? I mean, which of us conquered Ba Sing Se? Which of us became Fire Lord? Which of us─"

"Uncle is more successful than you because it isn't military accomplishments that make you great. It's people's personalities that make them great. It's how they treat other people, not how many people they conquer," Zuko says, although he knows it will never get through to her, and Azula promptly ignores him.

"What kind of dragon is that? Ugh, Mai, at least try," Azula says, causing Mai to jump and nearly nick her finger. Zuko shakes his head slowly.

"Why do I do nice things for you?" Mai sighs, focusing intently on the dragon she is carving. "Azula, you owe us. Zuko and I are going to ask you for a favor one day, and you are going to do it even if you get nothing in return."

"You two could have said no," Azula says and Zuko lies down on his back.

"Well, this has been an exercise in frustration," Zuko mutters to himself.

"What was that? Do I frustrate you, brother?"

"Focus on your dragon carving!" Zuko snaps and Azula recoils.

"I need a ribbon..." Azula says, squinting at the nearly finished pendant.

"I bet Kanna has fabric or something," Mai suggests and Azula shakes her head.

"I need a _red _ribbon," Azula repeats.

"Go cut up one of those flags," Mai says, gesturing at the ship without looking.

"I am not making a betrothal necklace out of a sixty year old flag," Azula purrs, as prissy as ever, rubbing her face.

"Well there aren't really that many red things here. Everything goes with grey, Azula. We're Water Tribe now, aren't we?" Zuko says, sitting up. Mai shakes her head and Zuko is startled to realize she is shaking it at him.

"We're not Water Tribe and we're never going to be. They don't really accept us here. They look at us and whisper around us. When Azula returns to claim her rightful throne, I am _right _behind her," Mai says. "I just want to go home. I was a good kid. I don't deserve exile."

Zuko's lips part in surprise. "But... Mai..."

"You can come too," Azula offers and Zuko thinks she actually believes it is a kind thing to say.

"Why are you still hung up on the crown? It isn't like it matters anymore," Zuko says with a shrug.

"He has to die sometime." Azula shrugs and picks up one of the knives resting on the snow. "Now close your eyes, ZuZu."

Zuko covers his eyes as she says, not wanting to know what she is about to do with the glittering bone blade.

"So, your plan went from claiming the Nation with blood and fire to waiting until father gets old and just marching in there and demanding the throne?" Zuko asks, submerged in darkness.

"Well, when you phrase it that way it sounds less... ambitious," Azula sighs and Zuko hears the tear of fabric. "But it isn't exactly like we can make an army out of these savages. Eventually, he will get old and have no heir. And then I will get the throne."

"That's depressing. So for the next thirty or forty years you're just going to live amongst the Water Tribe?" Zuko asks, hearing another ripping sound.

"Maybe someone will assassinate him. You never know. I mean, I started a bit of an uprising. That's why he sent me away, because he was afraid he would be killed in order for me to be Fire Lord again." Another tear.

"So no more blood and fire?" Zuko asks. "We could always go to Ba Sing Se and get Uncle's help."

"Oh, yeah, right, I'm going to walk up to Ba Sing Se after slaughtering half their men with my armies and just ask if they'll _please _help me be Fire Lord again. It doesn't work that way," Azula sighs.

"If you want an army to take back the Fire Nation, you have to go to Ba Sing Se," Zuko says and Azula does not want to answer.

"You can open your eyes now," she announces instead of responding to her brother's suggestion, her work finished.

Zuko opens his eyes to see Azula clutching a shimmering red ribbon with the bone knife on her lap. Mai has her face scrunched up in concentration over the dragon's eyes.

"Where'd you get that?" Zuko asks, wiping the sweat from under his eyes. It is already cold and sticky from the harsh weather.

"She cut it out of her bra," Mai says, smirking smugly to herself at Zuko sticking his tongue out in disgust. "You know, Zuko I'm surprised you suggested that Azula gather an army and become Fire Lord again. Don't you want to be Fire Lord? The Fire Lord of peace and forgiveness or something?"

Zuko swallows and his heart rate quickens. "You didn't see what happened when my father announced he was taking back the throne. With one sentence she started a riot."

Azula smirks to herself; she likes the idea that her influence is enough to frighten away any potential heir. She _will _be Fire Lord. It is the only way she can justify her existence and Princess Azula _deserves _to exist. And Zuko does not reveal his true intention; he needs Azula for his own ends. It works better if she has no clue of his aims.

"Your dragon is done," Mai says, thrusting the circle of steel into Azula's hands.

"It will do," Azula says coldly and Mai rolls her eyes. "Now I just tie the ribbon and... there."

"Do you think she's going to say yes?" Mai asks politely and Azula squints at her as if the idea of rejection never occurred to her.

"Of course she will. Let's get back to the village." Azula takes the necklace in her hand, and she, her brother and her best friend make their way back to their temporary home.

Something has shifted in the wind when the trio arrive back at the ring of homes. People are anxious and something is wrong with the sky.

"What is that?" Azula asks airily, stuffing the necklace into her parka's pocket. She touches the ink black snow, puzzled by it. It smells of soot and industry, alien scents amongst the fish and furs and frostbite.

"It's a Fire Nation raid." Katara's voice is heavier than Azula has ever heard it.

Azula looks up, squinting.

"We call it the Black Snow," Katara breathes to the former Fire Lord, and she is off running to defend her tribe.

_The Black Snow_. Azula's heart starts to race and her fingers twitch cerulean.


	11. The Choice Was Mine, and Mine Completely

A/N: **Long author's note I'm sorry:**

Hey, I'm back. If you're curious about anything that happened in my month of hell, there's a link on my profile. Thank you so much for your patience. It actually was a way shorter absence than I thought it would be; last time I was committed it was like 3 months not 28 days.

At 36 chapters in length, finally, this fic is entirely complete with a "The End" and everything. And I'm really proud of my work in it. In my opinion, this is my best fic. It was originally 20 chapters but it wound up being longer when I thought of some good elements and twists for the plot.

As for Korra's bending in this chapter; she bends three elements at four years old in the show, so I figure she would show signs of bending early.

* * *

><p>Chapter Eleven: The Choice Was Mine, and Mine Completely<p>

* * *

><p>Azula sees seven Fire Nation ships. They are... expensive. Elite ships made for priority missions. It hits her like a punch in the gut; he must know. Father must know and now he is going to wipe her out. No... worse, far worse. He has no other viable heir so he is going to wipe everyone out and imprison her and her child. Years on this block of ice sounds unpleasant, but years imprisoned in a gilded cage under the brutality of Fire Lord Ozai sounds far worse.<p>

Therefore, Azula goes running over a dune of snow. With one carefully timed breath, she presses two fingers together and cleaves a ship in half with a tongue of blue flame that blinds the Fire Nation soldiers and Water Tribe citizens alike. The ship burns in acrid smoke, plunging into the depths of the frigid water with soldiers on board.

Katara is taking out two assailants at a time, cracking ice around them and sending them to watery graves. Zuko and Mai are side by side, surrounded but staving them off. Azula's eyes are flickering from body to body, whether draped in red armor or blurred by blue parkas, searching for Ty Lee.

With a few blasts of blue flame, she slides down the snow, forming a superheated ball of fire that, when released, knocks back four soldiers poised to strike her. There is recognition in the faces of the soldiers when they see her, and subsequent confliction.

Azula takes advantage of the slightly lowered weapons and the charred bodies of her soldiers fall onto the ice, the snow stained with black and red. A strangled scream grabs her attention and she sees a man falling back, paralyzed. Ty Lee elbows the man behind her and he falls down onto the ice as well.

Former Fire Lord Azula runs to her soon-to-be fiancée and takes her by the hand.

"Come on!" Ty Lee tugs on her and runs towards the wall that has been decimated by projectile explosives.

Azula takes a deep breath and sees Katara, Mai and Zuko standing and trying to prevent any more soldiers from reaching the village.

She hesitates for a moment. Ty Lee runs right in and starts helping, but Azula stands still, frozen in the frigid pole. She makes a choice now for where her loyalties lie. With the Nation she loves and would do anything for, and the people who have done more for her and shown her more compassion than her own parents ever did.

Azula makes her choice. She runs forward and with five forms, takes out a platoon. Katara's eyes glitter with a silent smile as the sky is stained blue and the ice is stained black.

It is over quickly. Although the soldiers were among the best and the ships priceless, when the smoke clears, none of them are left standing. Azula counts five ships in the bay, abandoned and desolate now. Two waterbenders from the North Pole freeze them in the ice to keep them from drifting away.

But Azula only sank one. She shakes her head and glances around. And then it hits her like she is being stabbed. She screams, which is unusual for someone who has endured so much pain. She is grabbed by Katara of all people.

"What's wrong?" Katara asks, lifting Azula to her feet.

Azula doesn't reply, but Katara can tell. Blood drips onto the snow. Her cobalt eyes widen as she seizes the princess and takes her towards the village. Azula's lips move as if she wants to speak, but no sound comes out. She bites down on her lip, the pain agonistic and the idea of what could be happening terrifying.

"Thank you for saving my tribe," Katara says softly as she lowers Azula onto a bed in Kanna's home.

In the Fire Nation, Ozai is hoping his ships arrived. He sent the best of the best, even the waterbenders could not defeat that. Certainly not a fleet like he sent to the North Pole, which was... ill advised. But he will have an Avatar when his people return. He _must_.

Things are not going well for the former Fire Lord. He never did receive the same respect as his father, which visibly sickens him. But the people do not look kindly on a man who usurps the throne twice, regardless of his merits. He should accept that by now. He is titled _the usurper_ by Azula's loyal followers he is trying to weed out.

His eyes fall on a portrait of he, his wife and his two children. Ursa is long gone, Zuko and Azula somewhere where his spies have not found them. He got rid of them all for few reasons.

What did Azula ever do? All she can do is talk. But the power of persuasion is... impressive. And not something Fire Lord Ozai would like to stand against. She could convince a man to kill his firstborn son, most likely. And that is why he had to be rid of her.

Isn't it a little... disturbing? Father, wife, son, daughter, all taken away because he...

"Fire Lord Ozai," and his thoughts are interrupted by a general. "Your next audience is ready for you."

_The air smells like blood. It drips down her pale skin as he examines her closely. Princess Azula bites back tears as timid servants stem the bleeding. The blood comes from burns and there are blisters on her back. She is thirteen._

_ "I know it hurts, but you brought it on yourself," Ozai says, touching her face gently. "I'm sorry you got hurt, but you should know you could have avoided it."_

Always passive tense with her punishments. He does not know why he never took credit for what he did to her. It was always her fault. Always avoidable.

Ozai stops looking at the picture of his missing family and goes to host his audience.

Many miles away, Azula screams. She is clutching at her abdomen as Kanna and Katara try to calm her.

"You both are going to make it," Kanna says, her rough voice now tender. Katara has gloves of water on, prepared to heal anything she can.

Princess Azula just saved the Southern Water Tribe. And Katara is not going to let she or her baby die. Not after that. Maybe she is a despicable person. But in this war, the war that Katara _knows _she is destined to end, she could use an ally like Azula.

Zuko was right.

"What's happening?" Azula shrieks for the thousandth time. Yet, she still gets no answer from the water peasants.

"Gran-Gran says you're going to be fine. Stop whining," Katara sighs and a little water drips from her perfect hold.

Zuko walks into Kanna's house. He does not squirm at the sight of Azula, nor does he blush; he looks dead serious.

"They took her."

"Who?" Ty Lee asks, standing up. She has nail marks all over her wrist and hands from Azula's talons.

"Mai," Zuko says, his tone defeated. Katara's hands of water drop to the floor with a loud splash. It is punctuated by Azula's scream of pain.

Katara walks outside with Zuko, leaving Kanna to care for Azula. They stand in the bitter wind, watching people rebuild what the Fire Nation destroyed. Bodies sinking in the sea, ships stripped for useful supplies and correspondence captured by Zuko in order to see what his father is up to.

"What do you mean they took Mai?" Katara breathes, raising an eyebrow. Zuko frowns and she realizes that it is true. Her heart sinks into her stomach.

"I mean she got captured. One ship got away," Zuko says, his eyes screaming but his face stoic. Katara's heart beats out of control and thrusts itself into her throat.

"We have to go after them," Katara says sharply, seizing Zuko by the shirt. He gently pries her hands away from him and she bites her lip to suppress tears. "We can't, can we?"

"She'll be okay, Katara. She knows the Fire Nation and she's smart and brave and I know that she'll be okay. Let's just worry about right now."

"And ending the war."

Zuko tries not to sigh. "Yes, and ending the war."

_"You're clinging to a dead dream."_

Azula and the fetus both survive, but when she makes it out, Mai is gone. A small part of Azula feels she must have gone willingly. When not around Katara and Zuko, Mai would talk about her unquenchable longing to return to the Fire Nation. Partially to help her mother and brother, and partially because she dislikes the South Pole.

It is suspicious to paranoid Azula; Mai is too strong to be defeated, even if the raid was well funded and staffed. She wanted to leave and so she took her chance, and the only thing that will keep her alive is the trade of information.

"Our days here are numbered," Azula murmurs to Ty Lee as Katara gives a speech to her tribe. It is fairly boring and about victory and hope. Azula would do better, although she admits Katara has a knack for public speaking.

"You have a plan?" Ty Lee asks softly as she is focused intently on getting snow out of her mitten. Azula bites back the urge to smack her hand away and make her stop looking like a moron.

"No. But Mai is going to sell us out," Azula says casually. Ty Lee frowns.

"I don't think that."

"You think she'll have a choice?" Azula breathes, thinking of the torture Mai would not endure. She would break under the pressure. Or under threats of her mother and brother being killed, as much as she claims to hate them.

Ty Lee is silent. She sets her mitten down next to her and examines her ruddy hands. Frown.

"It'll work out," Azula offers feebly, realizing she has clearly upset her girlfriend. "It always does."

"No." Pause. Ty Lee's eyes sparkle strangely. "Not always."

The next day, Azula wakes from nightmares about the child. She dreams about bleeding out on the throne as a monster rips its way out of her. Because it is a monster, and not the of her kind. It is an atrocity and Azula is facing her first round of self loathing for wanting to keep it and raise it.

"What are you going to name it?" Ty Lee asks as she is getting dressed. Azula does not move from their bed. "Go on."

"I don't want to name it until I have to," Azula says and Ty Lee takes a deep breath. She is hot and cold on levels that the acrobat has never witnessed. One moment she seems glad to be having this child, the next about to rip the fetus out of her body herself. She is exactly the same way about their relationship.

But the hot and cold ends, at least for the relationship of the two friends, when Azula drags Ty Lee to the mountains she trains on top of.

"These are really tall and ─ oo, wow that's pretty," Ty Lee says as Azula helps her to the top. They stand amongst the chilly wind. It whips through their hair, the snow nearly blinding them as all that can be seen is ocean and ice. "Why here?" Ty Lee asks as soon as her eyes adjust to the bright light. The sun is far more obscured close to the ground and the village.

"If you keep going straight from here you reach Fire Nation waters," Azula says with a small shrug. "I'm going to go back and get my throne. Someday."

"Mhm," is all Ty Lee can offer in response. Of course she wants to return to the Fire Nation. But every day it seems less likely to happen.

"But for right now, there's something I'd like to ask you," Azula says and Ty Lee's stomach twists. Here it is. Here is Azula's grand plan to massacre the Southern Water Tribe and steal the Avatar. She gives a plastic smile and hopes she is wrong.

"Yes, princess?" Ty Lee asks, her fingers clenched in anxiety.

Azula reaches into her pocket and withdraws a necklace that looks like Katara's. Except, it is made with worn red ribbon and a circle of steel instead of the Water Tribe coloration.

"What is it?" Ty Lee asks, taking it from Azula. "I mean, it's beautiful, I love it but─"

"It's a betrothal necklace. Kanna told me about them," Azula says and it takes Ty Lee a little too long to realize what she is saying.

"I guess no royal wedding," Ty Lee murmurs and Azula only stares at her. "Of course yes. Obviously. _Yes_."

"Good. I knew you would say that," Azula says calmly before being tackled. She yelps in surprise as she hits the soft snow.

"You're not just marrying me because you're pregnant are you?" Ty Lee asks as she has Azula pinned.

"Probably not." Azula shrugs. "What do my motivations matter anyway? It isn't as if you're going to do any better than me."

Ty Lee squints.

Some things never change.

Three weeks after the raid of the South Pole, Fire Lord Ozai is still getting reports. They vary and are scrambled, and finally, one of his top admirals has gathered the necessary information. One ship has returned, with survivors who all tell the same tale.

_Finally_.

"So, you're telling me you lost every ship but one?" asks the Fire Lord, raising an eyebrow.

Admiral Maboro stands before him, the only man high enough in rank to dare give the mission report. The raids of the South Pole were notorious for their successes. _Every _waterbender was eradicated during the time of Ozai's father. And, yet, somehow, the people of this insignificant tribe, _savages_, managed to obliterate the entire crews of seven ships.

"Yes," Admiral Maboro says, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "They had a waterbender. More than one. But one who was better than the rest."

"Yes...?" Ozai cannot imagine one waterbender is enough to take on seven ships.

"And four others. A girl who paralyzed five men before they could draw a sword, a girl who slit my lieutenant's throat and... that's it."

"That's it? Don't lie to me. Executable offense," Ozai says, trying not to laugh. The man looks very uncomfortable.

"And... the former prince and princess." Flames lick the ceiling and Admiral Maboro stumbles backwards like a man of his stature should not. "Princess Azula sheared a ship in half when she arrived. We were helpless."

Ozai does not know what to say.

"But we brought something back. Something I hope makes it up to you," Admiral Maboro stammers, his eyes glittering with futile hope.

"Did you find me an Avatar?" Ozai demands, his words a snarl. His fingers dig into the throne like no Fire Lord did. Even in Azula's spiral over her father's missing corpse, the advisors have never seen their leader so... _unhinged_.

"We found you something almost as interesting," Admiral Maboro says, gesturing for his men to enter. Fire Lord Ozai swallows; it must be something _very _worth his time if they do not have the heads of all the little Water Tribe children.

His eyes flash wide at what he sees. In filthy shackles is the former girlfriend of his good-for-nothing son. Mai. She looks unfazed by her imprisonment as Admiral Maboro pushes her onto her knees. She stumbles and curses slightly, but shows nothing on her face.

"And what can she do for me?" Ozai asks and Maboro makes a choking sound in the back of his throat. Mai smirks faintly.

"Well, I mean, I could tell you all you need to know about why your kids joined the Water Tribe. But, I mean, I think we know the answer already," Mai says and Ozai clenches his jaw. "It's not them; it's you."

"Leave her here. All of you out." He steps down from his throne, parting fire around him as he moves. Admiral Maboro and his men disappear as if they had never been there. "I always liked you, Mai. I apologize for what my daughter did to your family. She's calculated, yes, but never could stamp out her emotions entirely. They corrupted her, which is why _I _need to rule the nation."

"She's going to take the throne back," Mai says and Ozai is stunned momentarily. She does not strike him as... _brave_. "You made yourself the most powerful enemy you could imagine. And she's made some allies that outmatch all your armies. It's a real shame you didn't tell her you loved her enough when she was a kid because now she is going to─"

A foot collides with the side of Mai's face. She supposes she deserved it and could have just gotten herself killed, but she composes herself and sits back up. Her mouth tastes strongly of metal.

"But that's not going to happen," Ozai says, examining Mai closely. She shows him nothing, gives him nothing. "I think I've had a change of heart. I want my children to come home."

He turns and Mai is frozen like a statue.

"After all, family are the only ones you can trust."

Silence.

Mai thinks only about dead dreams in her captivity. She has not told them a word yet because information is the only thing that keeps her alive. The royal palace is her prison, as if being in warm sheets with a gilded en suite bathroom is going to make her more likely to talk than if she were in a rat infested prison.

The admirals who come in are pathetic. The threaten her, burn her and attempt to hurt her. But her face does not move, not for one moment.

She does not know how many days have passed when she is seized by both arms and taken across the palace. Zuko's room, as if that will conjure memories. But Fire Lord Ozai is waiting for her, looking mildly impatient.

"I'm sure you're acquainted with my son's bedroom." He gestures for the guards to leave and they obey. Mai stands and does not move. There is nothing he can put her through that will make her talk.

"I'm not saying anything. You'll kill me as soon as I do," Mai says flatly, in the same voice she gave those torturing her with crude metal instruments.

"I'm here to make you an offer." He walks to her and she realizes how much smaller she is than him. Azula has a threatening presence, but she must have learned it from her father.

He flicks Mai's hair out of her pallid face, the locks scraping against her eyebrow and one eye. But she does not even blink. She will have to stare him down; she also learned a lot from her father and his seedy political career.

"They're my friends."

"You have a family too," Fire Lord Ozai says and Mai tenses. He touches her neck and feels her previously placid pulse start to race.

"What did you do to them?" Mai demands, a flicker of emotion for the first time. Ozai suppresses a smirk.

"Not worse than what Azula did," he says, still not removing his fingers from her neck, but slipping to gentle knuckles instead of the front of his hand. He likes to feel her heart in fits and starts. She was always too apathetic. "You give me the information I want, you work for me instead of my misguided children, and I won't harm your mother or your brother."

"Would you?" Mai asks and it seems to be an earnest question.

"A lot of people have been disappearing these days," Ozai says with a shrug.

Mai contemplates her actions. Azula, Zuko, Katara and Ty Lee won't fall easily. It is likely he will never get them until Azula comes for her throne. But her family is vulnerable.

She makes her choice.

"I'll do it. If you promise not to harm them," Mai breathes, her heart even faster now. Guilt mixed with adrenaline and fear.

"Working for me will not be unpleasant. Your family dying or being imprisoned would be much worse," Ozai says and Mai swallows.

"I said I would do it. I've always been loyal to the Fire Nation anyway." Her words are weak. She cannot justify it to herself. She just knows that her friends have survived worse.

His fingertips slip to her waist. She does not move, knowing he will stop and have her dragged away again.

But his hand slides to her back, as she still does not even make a facial expression. He is _almost _impressed with Mai's passive defiance, a trait she learned as a child.

He presses her against him and decides that she won't be defiant much longer.

Three weeks after the raid of the South Pole, Azula has had a revelation. She climbs up the ice mountains again, though it is getting more difficult. Training alone is the only thing that clears her head.

Mai is gone and everything feels wrong. Katara keeps talking about somehow ending the war when they are all isolated on the South Pole without the slightest weapon to use against a dominion. Zuko seems to be _settling _for this place. Ty Lee is impossible to read and just keeps _befriending _people.

And Azula has decided she and her heir are going to have the throne.

She just hasn't exactly figured out what weapon she has to use against her father.

_"I didn't realize I wanted this until I almost lost it. It's so... fucked up," Azula says, lying in her bed in her Water Tribe home. Ty Lee is attempting to brew tea and not doing a very good job. "Am I fucked up that I wasn't relieved that the baby was dying? What is wrong with me that I'm glad that it's okay? What is wrong with me that I saved these water peasants and risked myself and you and my child?"_

_ Ty Lee grimaces. She does not know how to respond to Azula's questions because she does not have the answers._

_ "I'm glad you're okay. And I'm glad our baby is okay," Ty Lee offers, hoping it will abet Azula._

_ It does not, but the princess says no more._

Azula conjures lightning, feeling it reverberate through her body. It is fucked up of her to want this child. It serves her no greater purpose than to make her life _more _difficult. But the bond happened and there was nothing she could do. When she was bleeding her first thought was that it was good, but then she decided she wanted this.

It is something she did not intend. But something that happened and cannot be changed.

_"I'm sixteen and I mean, the _way _it was conceived, I just..." Azula says as Ty Lee is trying to sleep. She still has not gotten over the fact that she did not want her baby to die before it was born._

_ "Just relax. Hormones. It's hormones," Ty Lee says and Azula settles for that explanation. "You're not really the _maternal _type, I know. But there are some things even you can't control."_

_ "I want to destroy those things," Azula murmurs as Ty Lee kisses her on the lips._

_ "But soon you're going to be controlling an entire nation," Ty Lee says and Azula feels her gut twist._

_ Maybe she is clinging to a dead dream._

Fire Lord Ozai moves to her, the night too quiet. Painfully quiet with a thousand stars blocked by the smog of the city.

She does not resist, like she should. Like the girl who defied Azula more than once should.

His fingertips trail down her neck. She swallows but does not react to the uncomfortable sensation. He touches her with little vigor, sliding up her nightdress but not bothering to expend the energy to pull it off of her. She is not a statue like she tries to be; she trembles ever so slightly without noticing it. But he notices it.

Cold hands that are large compared to the body of the sixteen year old girl slip to her breasts. She is rather unfeeling and he is rather halfhearted. He doesn't linger on her body for long; he lost interest weeks ago. But he still does it, perhaps enjoys it. But her lack of response to digging nails into her thighs and pressing her breasts is clearly boring when she has the reaction of a corpse.

He slides her skirt up the rest of the way, slipping underwear over her ankles that he is forced to lift because she does not move them. They are both almost entirely clothed as he is on top of her.

The most she does is clench her jaw as he sheathes his cock in her.

When Azula returns to the village, she goes to visit her brother. He is at Kanna's house and Korra is sitting on the floor, playing. The princess sits up on the dresser as her brother is looking frustrated while carving some sort of spear.

"Broadswords easier?" Azula asks. And he jumps, nearly cutting his finger off.

"You have to stop doing that. You can't just sneak up on people," Zuko says forcefully and Azula only shrugs, shoulders shaking with a small laugh.

"Hi," comes a voice and Azula glances around frantically for it. "Hi."

It is the little water baby. The one that consistently tugs on Azula and demands her attention. And now it is _talking _to her.

"She likes you so much. I don't understand why children and animals don't flee at the sight of you," Zuko says, before cursing at the mistake he made on his spear. "Maybe you should adopt her."

"You're kidding," Azula says, staring down the water baby. "I'm already having one child."

"Hi," Korra repeats. Azula sighs, and rubs her temples. "Hi, princess."

"We need to take action soon," Azula says and Zuko does not know what she means. "We have to find a way to get me the Fire Nation back. I mean, _us_ the Fire Nation back."

"Wait until you have your kid. Then we're going to go get Mai. Somehow. But I really don't think we can invade the Fire Nation with four people," Zuko says, finally finishing the curve of the bone. He smiles, proud of himself.

"Well, Katara keeps going on and on about her plans. They all are terrible but to be honest, I don't have anything better. Going to Ba Sing Se is our best bet." Ba Sing Se is the dream that Azula and Katara are trying to revive. Mostly futilely.

"Surprising statement from you," Zuko remarks, setting down the spear. "Watch Korra; I'm going to go put this with the others in the defense tower."

"You can't just leave me with this water baby!" Azula snaps, but Zuko shrugs and is gone. She sighs; maybe it is practice for her child.

She steps down from the dresser and sits in front of the toddler. Can sit up herself, playing with ice sculptures as if they are toys.

"Hi, water baby," Azula says hesitantly. She does not know how to interact with children. "Um... want to see a trick?"

Azula holds up two fingers and writes her name in the air in smoke and flame. Korra seems impressed... or just is drooling... Azula cannot really tell.

And then the water baby waterbends. She melts her toy and makes tendrils of water that are nearly as good as Katara's. Azula squints at her, unsure of it.

"Well aren't you a little prodigy," Azula says slowly, watching her make waves and droplets in the air.

"Hi," is Korra's only reply. So, she can waterbend successfully at two, yet cannot make coherent sentences. Wonderful. Savages, Azula decides. "Wanna see a trick?" Korra slurs and Azula sighs.

"Just repeating what I say doesn't─" Azula's lips part in surprise, golden eyes gleaming and flashing.

The little water baby just bent fire.

* * *

><p>AN: There will be another chapter on Friday, along with the first chapter of two new fics by me. Right now I'm literally passing out as I'm typing this but I wanted to update before I sleep for like three days. I still have a hospital bracelet on. These things are impossible to get off.


	12. The Gift of Greatness

Chapter Twelve: The Gift of Greatness

* * *

><p>"You're the Avatar," Azula murmurs, as if the water baby can understand.<p>

She has never felt so conflicted until this moment. Everything has always been easy to her, every choice swift and without repercussions. After building a life from the ashes of her greatness, this child presents the chance to get back all she _deserves_. All she has _earned_.

"Show me 'nother," Korra says and Azula can only blink. No coherent sentences, yet the _Avatar_.

"Uh, alright," Azula murmurs, lifting up her palm. Korra's eyes glitter in the blue light.

"Azula, what are you doing!" Zuko exclaims, eyebrows shooting up, and Azula pauses. Her tongue twists. "Were you going to attack her?"

"I was just distracting her. She likes it." Azula pauses. "She showed me some waterbending. It's funny but," Azula says, regaining her composure and standing up, "I see a little of myself in her right now. Although, I don't think I was ever that cute."

Zuko smiles faintly. _Agni_, he is gullible.

"Maybe you won't be a terrible parent," Zuko says with a small laugh. "Yeah, she's been showing off her waterbending for a few days now. It actually does remind me of you... just less attacking me."

Azula forces a smile and Zuko somehow does not find it suspicious.

"I'm just going to leave now. Nice kid," Azula says before quickly disappearing out of the house.

Her heart races as she trudges through the snow. The _Avatar_. Korra is the Avatar and Azula just stumbled across her. Maybe her luck has not run dry. Just perhaps. Of course, on one hand she is getting along quite nicely now that she has abandoned her obsessions and tried to build a life.

But this relocation is _temporary_. It has always been temporary and she never intended to stay for long. If she had not found out she was pregnant she would have tried to find the Avatar weeks ago. She walks to her house and shuts herself inside, her head spinning.

_Okay_, there are multiple courses of action but she cannot pick a single one. From the moment Aang was dragged out of that iceberg and thoroughly devastated Zuko's ship, the Avatar has been the weapon that anybody could use to get ahead. She presses her hands against the snow until they freeze but she does not feel the pain.

The water baby was firebending. The Avatar just showed herself to Azula by the strange chance that her brother left her alone with Korra. It has to be some kind of sign. Some marker to tell her that she is supposed to be the divine ruler of... well... everything.

Why else would the Universe just hand her the fucking Avatar?

But she is about to be married by Water Tribe traditions. These people have done more for someone who had their families killed than her own father or mother ever did for her. It is not as if Azula would ever _care _about that kind of thing ─ she ─ she _deserves _to be treated that way.

This opportunity laid itself before her and she _has _to seize it. There is no way she cannot.

She tears her hands from the wall, staring at the snow and ice stuck to her reddened palms. Has she given up? Become complacent? She was Fire Lord and... now she might as well be a water peasant. She introduced herself as _just Azula_. This is the worst kind of slipping.

Her nightmares and hallucinations were a thousand times easier than knowing exactly where the Avatar is. Exactly how to escape the fate she just resigned herself to. The terrible _mediocrity_ amongst the snow and the penguins. The prodigal princess does not deserve to live and die on the ice wrapped in a parka and wedded to a circus freak.

"You look upset," Ty Lee squeaks, walking in and making Azula jump. Azula hesitates. Honesty is _hard_. But it may be worth it.

"I know who the Avatar is," Azula whispers, walking close to her. She slips one hand behind Ty Lee's back, more to keep her from running than to be romantic.

"Azula..." Ty Lee whispers, unsure what else to say.

Ty Lee is about to watch Azula unravel again, like she cannot be held together for too long. Is she going to be forced to constantly be trying to put together broken pieces? Is that all Azula is ever going to be? And she feels the metallic guilt on her tongue when she thinks about Azula is a broken teacup and not a person.

"You're going to throw this all away for the Avatar, aren't you?" Ty Lee murmurs, touching the necklace pressed against her throat.

Azula does not respond. She presses her lips against Ty Lee's and forgoes answering. It hurts but Ty Lee does not care for a breathless moment. It is enchanting as they are there together, feeling so perfectly alone. The cold presses against them as they heat each other with chapped lips and intertwined hands.

"Look, I," Azula says, breaking apart and realizing she has to choose, "I don't know what to do with this knowledge. I haven't... thought that far ahead. It's a first for that issue, believe me. I didn't expect her to just hand herself to me."

"Who is it?" Ty Lee asks, studying Azula closely.

"Korra," Azula replies and Ty Lee is startled she is being so honest. "She's the best advantage we can get against my father."

Ty Lee tries not to look hurt. It _almost _felt like things had changed.

"What are you going to do when the war is over?" Ty Lee asks and Azula cocks an eyebrow. "When there's nothing left to win, what are you going to do? You spent your whole life preparing to conquer and fight and claim what you've been told is yours, whether it is or isn't. But what are you going to do when you have it all?"

Silence. Azula's lips open and close but she says nothing.

"You promised to end the war when you get the Fire Nation back," Ty Lee says and Azula intends to fulfill that promise. "But, Azula, for you, the world isn't enough."

"Don't be observant like that," Azula snaps and Ty Lee shrugs softly. "Just because I'm not content in this_ hovel _doesn't mean I won't be content when I'm Fire Lord."

"You need something to be conniving for or you're not happy," Ty Lee says, advancing on Azula. The banished princess does not move. "Just stop for a moment and take a breath. Just stop for a moment and think about what you have instead of what you want."

"What do I have? Look at this! Look at our surroundings for a moment and compare it to where we were two months ago!" Azula snaps, gesturing at the house made of lumps of ice and snow. Ty Lee does not seem to comprehend how far they have fallen. "It's not so wrong of me to want to go _home_."

"Do you remember the lake?" Ty Lee says softly, touching Azula's hip. The princess does not move; she barely breathes. "What was glamorous about that? But I've never seen you so happy."

"That was like being stuck in a place where time didn't pass. That was different. I can feel time passing. It feels like a throbbing bruise," Azula snarls, turning her back to Ty Lee and kicking the fire to a start in the hearth. "Every minute I'm here is a minute that I'm not Fire Lord."

Ty Lee picks at her lips. She does not know what to say and she wishes that she did. It isn't as if she was ever good at this kind of thing. Maybe it would be easier if it were over.

_The knife punctures Azula's chest. The lightning takes the metal as its guide, betraying its master. Her eyes are wide as she loses her breath and Ty Lee thinks for a moment she will have to live without her._

_ Mai and Katara are down and out as Ty Lee takes the princess into her arms. She hurt her. She left her in prison to rot for a year but now Ty Lee carries her through the dark streets past curfew in New Ozai City. Her skin is hot from the electricity. Blood trickles in droplets from the knife that Ty Lee has not yet removed._

_ She carries her until she breaks down crying._

_ It is impossible to be an optimist now._

"It's going to be okay," is the only hollow reply Ty Lee can offer.

Azula shrugs it off.

Ty Lee presses her lips against those of her friend, her fiancée. And they are there for a moment; they can pretend they are at the lake again instead of exiled to the South Pole. Interweaving backward steps to the bed that lurks too close to the fire.

Their amount of clothes makes stripping each other down incredibly awkward. Ty Lee giggles as Azula's eyes hollow out. She is somewhere far away and Ty Lee regrets continuing for a moment. Azula is on her back and Ty Lee runs her fingertips along her cold, exposed skin.

The fire crackles dimly as Ty Lee kisses Azula's neck. A small gasp as Ty Lee touches her tongue to her clavicle. A shiver as Ty Lee caresses the side of her face and lets her fingers trail down along her shoulder.

They meet somewhere in the middle, somewhere in the core.

It should mean something. Arched backs and orgasms. But maybe it doesn't.

Maybe some things never change, Ty Lee can't help but think as she lies intertwined with Azula.

Maybe hope is a lie.

In the morning, Azula walks to Kanna's house as the sun is barely rising. She can feel the celestial heat in her body, the power that she sometimes manages to forget, and she knocks on the door. Kanna answers and Azula for a moment bitterly recalls Mai.

She hopes that her friend is alright, even after everything she has done to her.

"I wanted to see Korra," Azula says sweetly and Kanna nods for her to walk inside. Katara and Zuko are asleep in separate beds. Azula walks to the crib that holds the toddler who can already bend two elements.

"We're looking for a home for her, you know?" Kanna says, gazing warmly at the child she adopted.

"What happened to her parents?" Azula asks, studying the child intently.

"Her mother died in the raid you ordered while looking for Aang. Her father went to fight for General Iroh. We received news of his death shortly after he left," Kanna explains and Azula's stomach twists. She is responsible for the death of the Avatar's parents and she hopes that it will not count against her.

"So, she's looking for a home?" Azula asks softly and Kanna nods.

"A few weeks ago, I would say you couldn't do it. But I think you've proven yourself to be more trustworthy than I ever thought a Fire Nation girl could be," Kanna says, gently waking Korra. The child's big eyes fill with genuine excitement at the sight of Azula. "She likes you a lot."

Azula wonders why her Avatar senses don't retain the memory of a lightning bolt in Ba Sing Se. Azula can see crystal catacombs as she looks into Korra's eyes.

"Spend the day with her. Tell me what you think when you're done," Kanna says and Azula takes Korra into her arms. The toddler buries her face in Azula's shoulder, her cheeks tickled by the fur of the parka.

And Azula spends the day with the child. She takes her to a corner of town where no one is and shows her lit fingertips. Korra is captivated by the blue fire. She follows it with glittering eyes. Azula waits for her to light her own flame and Korra does.

If only there were earth somewhere here. Then Azula could have even more proof that she has found the Avatar.

Azula realizes she will have a child of her own in a few months. Only a few months. She tries to detach herself from it as much as possible, but sometimes she remembers. Sometimes it moves inside of her and she does not know what she should think.

A _mistake_. The worst kind of _mistake _because it is a monster within her. And she still has the dreams of being torn open and bleeding out on the throne as a monster emerges from her husk of a body. Usually it's a dragon, a deformed dragon.

She gets lunch for Korra and makes sure to show how good she is with the child. Azula hates children herself, but the tribe is seeing her as good and loving with Korra. Even Katara seems to be buying it, which is a plus.

"Azula," Korra says as Azula returns her to her home with Kanna, "you're fun."

A grin. Azula smirks at her and shrugs.

"I know," Azula replies haughtily.

Korra hugs Azula's legs and then scampers off.

The next day, Azula has watch with Katara. It was set up after the last Fire Nation raid, in order to keep a lookout for more attacks. Especially with Mai as a captive and a likely source of intelligence for Fire Lord Ozai, the watch is necessary.

"What do you want to name your kid?" Katara asks casually and Azula examines her closely. Usually they evade conversation, but today they are stuck together for hours. They both suppose the other is not as bad as they thought.

"I have no idea," Azula says with a shrug. "I don't necessarily want to name it."

"You should name it," Katara replies and Azula rolls her eyes. "Why don't you name it like... revenge in Fire Nation language?"

Azula smirks faintly.

"No, no, name it, 'blood and fire'," Katara says, making air quotes with her gloved fingers. "What about 'I will dominate you'."

"Well, the syllable _zu _means dominate or dominion in the old Fire Nation language," Azula says and Katara thinks about it for a moment before it hits her.

"Fitting, very fitting." Katara laughs quietly.

"Zuzai is the divine right to rule."

"_Incredibly _fitting."

"But I'm not naming my child after my father."

"What about Zue?" Katara offers, sounding strangely genuine. Azula thought she only brought it up to mock her.

"That means nothing," Azula says, looking up from the water at Katara.

"Yue means moon in old Water Tribe. I mean, your baby is basically half water tribe."

"Moon dominion?" Azula says with a small laugh. "I'll take it into consideration."

"So no. Oh, come on, _Zue_ is so catchy. And nobody else in the Fire Nation is going to have it," Katara says in a sing song tone. Azula slowly shakes her head.

"Alright, I'll name my child Zue but you have to name your firstborn after me," Azula says and Katara shrugs. "No one in the Water Tribe will have it."

"Done." Katara laughs. Azula snickers. Friends. Weird.

Many miles away, Mai cannot stop thinking about what she has sparked. She lies in her prison and realizes that the fleets are going to the Fire Nation. And this time they are far more prepared. There is nothing Mai can do and it kills her.

She is a snitch.

The door opens. He likely has come to taunt her and she will not respond.

"I leave tomorrow. With those competent enough to retrieve my lost things." He shuts the door too forcefully.

_I hope you drown, _Mai thinks with a small smirk.

"You're smiling about the death of your friends?" Ozai asks derisively and Mai shrugs in response.

Two weeks after her father's departure from the Fire Nation, Azula thinks about her conversation with Ty Lee. And when Katara said that this child is half Water Tribe... well... Azula thinks she may have found a home that is more than just a temporary fix. She continues the watch with Katara, pretending she has not just had a life changing revelation.

That evening, she leads Ty Lee up to the mountains again. They go there to be alone. Mostly to make out. Azula still trains in the mornings up this high, but they make it to the top and are about to sit down when something black smears on Ty Lee's face.

Azula jumps up and Ty Lee squints at her before seeing the air around her fiancée.

"Black snow," Azula says, touching the air. She examines the soot on her fingertips and finds it to be thicker than last time. And the raid before is permanently ingrained into her memory as being on the receiving end of something she doled out for the first time in her life.

She and Ty Lee stand atop the mountains, looking out at the ships. They are secluded, far away from the tribe.

"We have to go back and help them," Ty Lee exclaims, starting to slip down from the peaks. Azula grabs her by the arm and pulls her up to face her.

"Do you see that Ty Lee?" Azula murmurs, their faces very close together. They can feel and see each other's breath. "That's not a couple of ships. Not a few raiders. That's a fleet. He knows. Mai told him everything."

Ty Lee removes herself from Azula's grasp and stares out on the water. And way out there is a mass of steel. The ships stretch as far as she can see. Too much for a miniscule tribe that barely shows up on the most insignificant to-do list of the Fire Lord.

The only reason for this much attention would be if Ozai knew about Zuko and Azula pursuing happiness in their new family. He has come to claim what he considers to be his and Azula can feel it in her bones.

"So what do you want to do?" Ty Lee whispers, resigning herself to whatever her fiancée decides upon. It is always her choice in the end.

Azula is clearly deep in thought, a thousand yard stare and slightly disturbed rosy lips on her face. Ty Lee watches with her protuberant eyes sparkling in anxiety.

"We're going to scout this out," Azula says, sliding down on the snow. Ty Lee scampers after her, seizing her hand so they do not get lost in the snow.

They dash through the melding of white snow and black soot, industry assaulting the slow life of the Water Tribe. Azula clambers up a hill closer to the water with a perfect view of the village. Katara is rallying with Zuko, ready to face off with a force that outmatches even she and Zuko together.

Azula beat them, and a fleet of Fire Nation soldiers could beat them as well.

It is the perfect location to see but not be seen.

"They're getting closer." Ty Lee is twitching towards the village and Azula sinks her fingernails into her. Ty Lee whimpers.

"We are _not _going down there to get _massacred_," Azula snarls, ducking behind the cover of the uneven snow. "I'm not getting worn down by foot soldiers. When the Admiral shows himself, then we strike."

"So many people are going to die between the first wave and the last, Azula," Ty Lee whispers feebly, but her fiancée is not listening. "What if they get Zuko and just leave?"

Silence. Ty Lee hides her frown.

The ground shakes with the force of cannonballs. Ty Lee holds Azula steady as she tries to fight the urge to go stop them. The Water Tribe may be more family to her than her parents and siblings ever were, but Azula and their unborn child are more important family. She thinks. She doesn't know. Maybe it is just easier to continue blindly following Azula's dreams until they undo them both.

First soldiers make contact and are wiped out by Katara alone. Ty Lee feels mildly relieved, until they just keep coming. Zuko's red flames stand out against broken ice and whips of water from the few benders in the tribe. Katara is a leader with an internal blaze comparable to that inside of Azula. Her people would die defending alongside her and Azula is almost jealous.

But... she starts to realize as she sees the next wave of soldiers who once only answered to her; the Water Tribe is who she marches with now. A twisting in her gut.

"We have to help them," Azula says abruptly and Ty Lee rolls her eyes.

"What happened to not dying?" Ty Lee mumbles as Azula stands up. With two fingers she summons a wave of flame that reduces the entire front line to charred corpses. The ice cracks and breaks off. Katara builds a wall of water from the displaced ice.

Zuko looks up and makes eye contact with his sister.

"Come on, Ty Lee," Azula says, running down the hills of snow and ice. Ty Lee follows her gracefully as they stand behind one of the houses. More soldiers come as they improvise around the broken ice. Drowning.

Azula's people are drowning on one side, and burning on the other. She does not know who she stands with.

And then comes a wall of fire that impresses Azula. She has seen the work of many admirals and generals who bowed before her and looked on the verge of tears. And none of them could produce such intense fire. Only Iroh, only Ozai, only Azula.

It is because he came himself, isn't it? Azula's heart sinks as Ty Lee starts to run towards the scene that has quickly flipped.

Azula recognizes all seven men who are now taking down the warriors of the Water Tribe as if they were Earth Kingdom teenagers in a make-shift militia and not those hardened from the ice and snow or the Siege of the North Pole nearly four years ago.

The one in the middle is her father.

"We have to get Korra," Azula says, running behind the next house without being seen. Ty Lee dashes with her.

"What happened to snapping your father's neck bones and taking the throne?" Ty Lee gasps, trying to catch her breath as they hide behind another house. A strangled scream rings out and Azula is unfazed. "Are you just going to hand him Korra?"

"I can't explain it to you right now," Azula says, slipping inside of Kanna's house and blocking the reckless fire that hits every surface in the twelve or thirteen feet around Azula and Ty Lee.

Korra and Kanna are inside, hidden.

"Is she safe?" Azula asks, shutting the door quietly. Ty Lee slips over to the window and watches the gruesome scene. Katara is gasping as she fights Ozai. "He _cannot _get her. You understand me?"

Kanna only nods.

"I'm going to fight him," Azula says before turning to Ty Lee. "_Watch _Korra. Do not─"

The ground shakes and Azula hits the wall. She coughs, touching her abdomen, and sees the door open. Everything is blanketed in thick black smoke and she does not see Zuko until he is almost directly in front of her.

"Azula, watch Korra," Zuko says harshly, glancing at the little girl, his sister, Ty Lee and Kanna.

"I'm going to put a stop to this," Azula breathes, trying to step past Zuko. He blocks her with one hand. "Has he seen you yet?"

"No. He's looking for us. And _you _are going to hide with Korra while I handle it," Zuko says and Azula scoffs.

"I'm the only person here who stands a chance against him," Azula snarls with flared nostrils. Ty Lee cringes as a fireball hits the window and collapses the side of the house. She barely dodges the snow coming down on her like a crashing wave.

"Remember when Mai and I said you owe us a favor?" Zuko states as Azula tries to shake him off of her. The fight is getting worse and Zuko is running out of time; Azula is not helping.

"She was joking," Azula snarls, lighting her hands. Zuko seizes them and they fizzle out. Her lip curls in a snarl.

"I think you can do one nice thing for me. Stay here. Don't move. Don't come out; I don't care what happens." Zuko rages and burns with the fire of a true leader. Azula is as impressed as she is angry.

"I'm going to fight him. I'm going to fight him just as it should be!"

"Azula, listen to me!" Zuko says with such vivacity that she can only blink. "He can't find you or Korra. You two stay here. She's the Avatar; you're the rightful Fire Lord. Just think about it for a minute. If you want the war to ─ if you want..."

"I'll stay with her," Azula says softly and Zuko's eyes glitter strangely. He did not expect her to listen. "I won't come out no matter what happens. But I'll have you know that I liked you better when you were evil."

Zuko offers a faint smile, and then he leaves.

"I'm here!" Zuko exclaims, having a vivid flashback to Aang. Ozai stands where Zuko stood those years ago, and now Zuko offers himself in exchange for the people of the Water Tribe.

The smoke starts to clear.

"Well, you certainly let a lot of people die while you were hiding. But that's typical of you, I suppose, Zuko," Ozai says, pushing Katara back with a punch of fire. She gasps, standing, too weak to conjure more water. Zuko feels immensely guilty.

She told him to go hide and ran after Ozai herself. And he listened.

"Zuko, you asshole," Katara breathes, backing up into soldiers who seize her arms. She looks for her compatriots and finds them wiped from the face of the Earth. She stood alone and Zuko ruined it all. "I told you to hide."

He is not listening to her.

"Where's your sister?" Ozai demands, walking towards Zuko. He expects his son to flinch or light his hands, but he does neither.

"Take me and leave the rest of the tribe alone. You've already obliterated their warriors. You want me, obviously. This doesn't need to end in a genocide," Zuko says calmly, boldly. Ozai is mildly impressed, although the nobility disgusts him.

Zuko has a sudden memory of Aang doing exactly this. It feels like things have come full circle. That thoughts makes Zuko's mouth taste bad.

"This is much more impressive than confronting me during a solar eclipse. I wasn't planning on leaving without you, however," Ozai says, stopping a few feet in front of his son. He holds up his hand to stop the raids of the houses. "Now, listen, just give me your sister and I'll leave without killing all of these peasants. The three of us can go back to the Fire Nation, and none of these little families will have to die."

"She's not here," Zuko says and Katara cringes.

"You are a terrible liar," Ozai says calmly, looking almost _amused_.

"Wouldn't she be fighting if she was here?" Zuko demands, knowing he is a bad liar but hoping he can at least distract his father before he starts knocking down doors.

"Yes, and I'm led to assume that _you _burnt twenty men to death in one strike. And, of course, it must have been _you _who took out those ships I sent to find the Avatar. Because last time I checked, _you _were such a fantastic firebender," Ozai says with a small smile. Zuko feels his stomach turn to stone.

Azula slips out the back window with Korra in her arms. She tucks the toddler into her parka, settled atop the small baby bump, and starts walking towards the uncharted expanse of ice and snow. She kisses her fiancée, who she knows can hold her own on the grounds that she can block chi with a single loose finger.

Zuko is right. Azula and Korra are the only way the war is going to end.

"The worst that happens, I'm shipped back to the Fire Nation," Ty Lee whispers through the window as Zuko starts shouting nonsense at Ozai. His approach is ill thought out, but it _is _keeping the Fire Lord distracted. "And you'll liberate me when you come claim your throne. Best that happens, I block your father's chi and we win. Now go."

Zuko is taken down by the time Azula reaches a secure perch. Korra is crying and Azula has no idea how to soothe her. She kneels on the snow and watches Katara get wrapped in a net. It fills Azula with a cold rage she did not know she could feel for the Water Tribe whore. Zuko is handcuffed and passed off to Admiral Maboro.

Azula squeezes her eyes shut as the doors are ripped open of the houses. Women, children and the weak laid out and passed over by her father. Admiral Chin tears open the door of Kanna's house and instantly falls back as if bitten by a venomous animal. Ty Lee steps over his paralyzed body.

The banished Princess Azula wants to close her eyes but can only watch helplessly.

* * *

><p>AN: So I posted two new stories. Yay. There's one called Flowers for the Dead which is a Mai/Azula/Ty Lee novel length fic. And one called Impossible Conversations which is a Tyzula redemption with an amnesia twist. If you're in need of reading material, that is. I need to stop promoing these things. I apologize.


	13. Sometimes Good Guys Don't Win

Chapter Thirteen: Sometimes Good Guys Don't Win

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><p>Ty Lee fights and she nearly wins. But she is outmatched and Azula knows it. The best warriors are dead or in shackles. Katara is caught in a net meant for restraining powerful waterbenders and Zuko is helplessly held in place by Ozai and handcuffed. He does not struggle and Azula cannot figure out why.<p>

The waves of soldiers fall as Ty Lee fights. And then she is down. Her hand gets stuck in her glove as she tries to pull it off and she is hit in the back of the neck with the blunt side of a sword. Ty Lee gasping for breath, Ozai tosses Zuko aside and pulls her to her feet.

"You're her little girlfriend," Ozai says as if Ty Lee doesn't know. Azula moves forward slightly and Korra tugs on the princess's hair and whimpers. "Alright," he says, glancing around the smoky surroundings. Azula's stomach twists as time feels like it slows down, "if she doesn't come out, I'll just have to be forced to kill you."

The orange flames are hot against the side of Ty Lee's face. She wriggles until he grabs her neck and holds her in place. Azula waits for a moment, wondering if the throne is more important or the romance she has kindled. She blinks several times and then starts running, clutching Korra in her arms.

Ozai looks pleased when Azula stands in front of him.

And he is right to be, because she is in shackles before she can summon a flame to vanquish the Fire Lord.

An hour later, Ty Lee, Korra, Zuko and Katara are separated from Azula. She stands in a small cabin on one of the dreadnoughts, her father inside with her after locking the door. His eyes burn with an anger that if he could control, he would be much more powerful for it.

"Put this on. Water peasant isn't your color," father says coldly, gesturing to the clothes on the bed. Tightly fitted armor from when she was fifteen. _As if_.

"It's not going to fit," Azula says firmly as he unlocks her handcuffs. She twists her fingers together to keep from lighting them and starting a rematch. It is certainly not an opportune time, when she has hundreds of soldiers in her way and nowhere to run in the middle of the ocean.

"What do you mean, _it's not going to fit_?" His golden eyes flash with virulent rage, but with a clenched jaw, he simply waits for his reply.

"Why don't I show you?" Azula replies slowly, rummaging around in the blue parka and removing it from her body. Beneath she wears the common white underclothes of the water tribe, but pressing against the bleached cloth is a bump on her pallid abdomen.

He does not know how to react. His daughter is not _pregnant _with some bastard child. She has never disappointed him before in her life, although he has hurt her before. And here she is, standing in front of him, pregnant with some Water Tribe atrocity. His hand twitches to smack her to the floor but he does not move.

She looks directly into his eyes and he does not know what to make of it. Shouldn't she feel shame? But she just gazes at him with a pout on her lips.

"How?" Ozai asks, the words difficult to summon. Azula shrugs haughtily and he seizes her neck and pushes her against the wall. She does not struggle; she barely breathes. "I won't have any bastard children in my family."

"Really, father? Because I was under the impression that you made several," Azula says lowly, watching his eyes flicker and flare. He punches the wall next to her head, not lifting his hands from her neck. She flinches. "Including this one."

His grip tightens for a moment and then he pulls away. Azula stands, rubbing her neck with cold fingers.

"'Including this one'?" Ozai demands, examining her closely. She inhales slowly, watching him.

"I think you know," she replies coldly, her lips in a small snarl. Ozai's heart skips a beat.

_He _conceived this child. _He _impregnated his daughter. _He _stares at her and does not know what he is supposed to say. Maybe an apology or maybe an accusation. She simply stands there, her arms crossed, waiting for him to respond.

"You can't be... _keeping it_, Azula," Ozai growls finally, walking towards her. She takes two subconscious steps backwards.

"I am, father. And you can't stop me," she hisses and his hand twitches again. But again, he does not summon the energy to harm her for speaking to him that way. "This child is mine to do as I please with."

Ozai cracks his knuckles. One by one. _Crack, crack, crack_, just as Azula imagines the popping and snapping of the bones in his neck. One day she will kill him. One day he will pay. But not this day.

"This is your _sibling_," he growls, his voice lowering to nearly a whisper. But still his words have immeasurable force behind them. He glances at the door, as if someone overhearing would cause him any damage.

Azula stands steadily, trying not to show from her posture how intimidated is. Power positions learned from military textbooks. They make her seem strong against Ozai. Yet, for her whole life she has played at being a queen, but she sometimes still feels like a scared little girl. And now father touches her arm and looks into her eyes as if he can solve the puzzle of what to do about his mistake.

"This is my child," Azula says, pulling away from him before he snaps her back to face him. "I've made my mind up, father."

Silence.

Azula examines her father for a moment, seeing the panic in his eyes and the anger on his lips. And she says mockingly, "I hope he looks _just like you_."

_Crack_. Not the sound of breaking neck bones. The sound of skin colliding with skin and bruising Azula's cheekbones. She stumbles but does not fall, bouncing back without hitting anything; she spits in his face, knowing she will regret it.

He grabs her by the elbow and twists. She breathes in sharply through her teeth but does not scream or cry or give him what he wants. He holds her helpless for a moment, deciding what to do. In the end, he drops her and leaves the room wordlessly, locking her in behind him.

Shaking, Azula sits down on her bed and bites back tears.

The journey is long and painful. She lies in the ship alone, barely fed, staring at the steel ceiling. This is how it ends; she does not reclaim her throne with blood and fire. She returns as her father's prisoner. No matter what she does, no matter how powerful she becomes, he still holds the ability to make her _helpless_.

And she feels sincerely that there is nothing she can do about that.

Azula is liberated from her room as they start to pull in to the harbor. She is guided by guards she could easily defeat but chooses not to. They lead her to a cell in the belly of the ship, in which Zuko, Katara, Korra and Ty Lee are sitting, looking defeated and dehydrated.

The princess wraps her fingers around the bars and Ty Lee leaps to her feet. Zuko glances up; Katara is asleep with Korra in her arms. Azula looks at the acrobat, the circus freak, the bane of her existence and the most confusing person she has ever met. This could be the last time they see each other and Azula finds it nearly impossible to admit that to herself.

"I will love you until the end of time," Ty Lee murmurs, her hands slipping out from behind the bars. They touch Azula's hands as the princess stands and feels the world crumbling around her.

"I'm never going to see you again, am I?" Azula asks, her tone cold but her heart burning. "No, I'll... I'll save you somehow."

"Nobody has ever loved anybody as much as I love you. If that doesn't count for something, I don't know what does," Ty Lee says sweetly with a small smile despite her circumstances. Azula does not believe that love can conquer all; Ty Lee's words are meaningless to her.

"Just remember you're mine," Azula breathes, pressing her lips to Ty Lee's.

She is pulled away from the wall of bars as their tongues intertwine. Azula is dragged out of the room, snapping insults at the guards as they tear her from her acrobat. She is taken off of the ship separately from the prisoners, taken through back roads used by military. The poverty around her settles in to her mind as she is guided to the palace.

This beautiful, shadowy place has been her prison for years. And it always will be for the rest of her life. She has resigned herself to fate; she will be trapped in a gilded cage until her father dies. Her hand rests on her abdomen, slightly elevated. Fire Lord Ozai looks at the motion of her hand with disgust and Azula does not blame him.

Azula is left in her room, alone. Or so she thought until the door bursts open and Mai comes inside, looking flustered. She has green and yellow remnants of bruises on her face and neck, despite being captive for over a month, and her hair is down, not tied up as it almost always is. Azula sits straight up in bed, where she had been staring at the ceiling and thinking fondly about death.

"You're alive." Pause. "And you sold us out!"

"I had no choice," Mai says fiercely, gesturing to her bruised face. Azula purses her lips. It isn't worth arguing when she needs allies desperately. "Azula, you need to fight. You need to fight before you run out of time. He's going to execute them all."

Azula's stomach twists. She _has _grown to like her brother, Katara, Korra and Ty Lee. But on the other hand...

"I can't escape him. I can't defeat him. I think I've given up," Azula says, lying back down. She closes her eyes and Mai makes a sound like an angry cat. She sits down at the foot of the bed and stares Azula down. But the princess does not move; she barely breathes.

"You're more powerful than he is. And you know it," Mai says and Azula sighs haughtily. She has detached herself quite quickly.

"I will never defeat my father. You remember when I ran away from home and half the military came looking for me? He sent a fucking _fleet _with his best admirals to the _Southern Water Tribe_. He trapped me with this _child_. I think I'm outmatched for the first time," Azula says calmly, still not opening her eyes. Mai grits her teeth.

"You have to do something. You know that, don't you?" Mai snarls, seizing Azula's arm. But the princess does not move. "He can't defeat you. You're... you. Nothing stops Princess Azula from getting what she wants. You asked for Ba Sing Se and they handed it to you. You defeated Katara and Zuko and took the throne. You were the best Fire Lord since Sozin and _nothing _stops you."

Silence. Azula does not move. It is almost as if she is playing dead.

Mai continues, "I saw you punch through a roof in Omashu just because you saw the Avatar and wanted him. I know your father is terrible but you _are stronger _than he is."

Silence. Mai stares at Azula, waiting for her response.

"No," Azula says softly, her voice sounding very unlike it usually does, "no. I'm not stronger than him. He's proven that to me too many times."

Mai clenches her fists, stands up as Azula returns to her preternatural stillness, and sets off to find Zuko and Katara.

As Mai is walking through the streets of Caldera, Katara breathes a sigh of frustration. They have been moved to a temporary jail cell with soldiers looking over them that Katara finds more competent than the Fire Nation soldiers she has faced in the past. She is thirsty beyond thirsty but no one trusts her with water. It is making her head fuzzy as Zuko paces. She leans against the wall, sitting as Ty Lee holds Korra in the corner.

Ty Lee looks worse for wear than the rest of them, even more than Katara's chapped lips. Her eyes are glazed over as she seems broken by being ripped from her girlfriend. She is incredibly melodramatic about her romance with Azula, which makes Katara frustrated, but she supposes she has no other choice but to put up with her obnoxious cellmates.

"He's going to kill us, isn't he?" Zuko asks, wringing his hands. "I've never... I've never been in this kind of situation."

Katara shrugs in response. Zuko frowns faintly. He has never known Katara to be so apathetic.

"I cannot _believe_ you _all _got captured!" comes an unfamiliar voice, swinging open the door of the jail cell and breezing past the seven bored guards. "I am so _angry_!"

"Mai?" Katara asks, sitting up. Katara's lips are chapped, her posture bent and it hurts Mai to see it, but right now she is experiencing a whirlwind of unclear emotions.

"I cannot fathom how you _all _got captured," Mai says, wrapping her hands around the bars. One of the guards touches his sword, but he does not move. "Best waterbender in the world, magical bending blocking, best firebender in the world, the Avatar _and _Zuko. You _all _got captured!"

"And Zuko?" Zuko asks but Mai is ignoring him. Her eyes narrow on Ty Lee, who is trying to fix her bangs and is as oblivious and in denial of being captured and slated for execution as the rest of them.

"You!" Mai snaps and the acrobat jumps and glances around, as if Mai is talking to someone else. "How did you let them get captured? Azula and your kid! We trusted you with the Avatar _and _we trusted you with Azula and you just ─ ugh!"

"My hand got stuck in my mitten?" Ty Lee offers, shrugging. Mai makes a sound like an angry cat that honestly terrifies Zuko and Katara. "It came out of nowhere, Mai."

"I told Azula to hide with Korra and she didn't," Zuko says, standing up. If no one will take any responsibility he will. And _maybe _get his girlfriend back. "Given, I kind of expected us to be able to beat the invaders. But who would have thought my father would come himself and with an entire fleet to collect two people?"

Mai rolls her eyes. "His two _children_. Not just _two fucking people_. Okay, Katara, how did you not just break off a block of ice and smash it into the ships?"

"I'm strong, Mai, but I'm not miraculous. A single bender can't take on a battalion of soldiers and the Fire Lord himself. I couldn't even beat Azula," Katara replies ferociously, standing up next to Zuko. A triangle of love triangle all about to eat each other alive. Ty Lee draws Korra in close to her.

"Alright, Zuko, please don't tell me you offered yourself up in exchange for your friends and family and expected your father to hold up his end of the bargain?"

"Azula told you!" Zuko snaps and Mai rolls her eyes.

"Azula is close to catatonic, locked up on the palace and _not doing so hot_. She wouldn't even respond to me when we were alone together. You ruined her and the Avatar and our team of terror in just one move," Mai sighs, her knuckles turning white and her hands mottled red.

"Azula is what?" Ty Lee asks, moving to stand up but stopping herself at the last minute.

"He sent more people than the North Pole," Katara snaps. "To the _Southern Water Tribe_. We didn't exactly have an army or a plan or anything. It was basically just three people and a handful of half-trained waterbenders who weren't recruited by Pakku and Iroh and sent to Ba Sing Se. We didn't have Aang."

Mai sighs. Gives up. Her hands loosen and she gestures to her face. "See these bruises. I sold you out. I sold you out and it's really my fault."

"It's not your fault," Katara says, touching Mai's hands. Zuko clenches his jaw and realizes he has lost. He turns, pointedly, and sits down beside Ty Lee. "I have been captured more times than I can count. My team was beaten. We were screwed so many times and we always made it out. I'll figure out a way out of this, I promise."

"I'll do what I can," is all Mai says. She slips her fingers away from Katara's and disappears.

"Is it just me or was she _really _emotional today?" Ty Lee asks blithely and Katara frowns. Zuko tries his best not to laugh.

"I wish I could be in denial like you," Katara sighs and Zuko's small smile fades instantly. "We're going to die, aren't we? We're going to get lined up on some stage blindfolded and just get... killed. It ends here. Team Avatar Two ends here and I should've stayed in Ba Sing Se with Sokka and Suki and Toph."

Zuko stares at her for a moment. "You don't give up. You're Katara; you never give up. The day I met you, you pursued Aang, and you, an untrained waterbender who in all rights was just a kid who'd never seen anything but close friends and penguins, decided to take on a ship of Fire Nation soldiers. And... you won. You're Katara; you never give up."

"I think I have. I just... prison. When I started in the Boiling Rock, I tried to help people. I tried to keep hope alive but it didn't work out. Sometimes the good guys don't win," Katara says with a shrug and sigh and Zuko is silent. "We're going to die."

"Azula and Mai will save us," Ty Lee says as if it is obvious.

"Azula, who is imprisoned and catatonic and totally unstable as well as incredibly confused about her father... and Mai... who is a disgraced noble with no more connections after Azula executed her family. Who _also _is a traitor," Katara replies very slowly. "They don't have any power anymore. We are all going to die."

"Zuko will save us?" Ty Lee looks at him expectantly.

Silence.

"Yeah. Yeah, I _will_ save us," Zuko states loudly.

Ty Lee smiles as Katara sighs and closes her eyes.

Far away from the grim jail, "I need to talk to you," Fire Lord Ozai says as kindly as he can manage. Azula sits on the sofa, barely moving. She did not speak when he had the guards collect her. They dragged her as if she was a corpse and he has to admit he is disturbed by it.

"Yes?" Azula replies quietly. He gestures for the guards to leave and shuts the door.

They are in what once was a living room and now is just an old room gathering dust. It was always meant to seem... homey, but no one has ever felt at home in the royal palace.

"About... this..." He gestures at her vaguely and she can tell from his discomfort he is talking about her pregnancy. "You don't have to go through with it. You're very young and have plenty of time to have an heir for when you're Fire Lord. I'm sure it's very upsetting to you. It's not a wise choice to keep this... this."

Azula studies him closely. She almost takes pleasure in his obvious pain.

"I've made my decision. I made it months ago, while you were sitting on my throne and I was living amongst water peasants." Silence. Ozai takes a deep breath as Azula remains eerily composed. "This isn't some bastard child with a slave girl you can get rid of. I want it. And I _always _get what I want."

"Why would you want something so sick?" he asks and Azula suppresses laughter at the irony of this madness.

"Why would you?" Azula retorts and he stands, one hand smoking, before sitting down. He knows it will take more than brute force to extort her. "What's the difference between my son and daughter and me and Zuko? Honestly, I can't think of one."

He looks at her as if she is absolutely insane. Maybe she is. Well, most definitely she is.

"I won't stop you."

"You can't."

"I'm allowing you to follow through with whatever madness is driving you to do this because I know I've made a mistake," he says and Azula's eyebrows shoot up, eyes flickering. "Banishing you just to make sure there wasn't a rebellion. You deserve better than whatever you were enduring in the South Pole. I want you to be Fire Lord someday; I forced your mother to have you because I wanted you to be Fire Lord. It was a mistake, and I'm sure I've upset you."

"I wasn't aware you thought you could make mistakes," Azula says mockingly, feigning surprise.

"But you realize that having a child as a form of punishment for me is... absurd. It's reckless. You're calculated, Azula. You held your own in a war against the most decorated general in the army, your uncle. And your decisions have _mostly _been wise. Are you really going to give birth just to make me suffer?" he asks and Azula shrugs in response. She has not put much thought into why she wants to keep her sibling. She just knows that it is _her _choice, and she wants it. She wants _revenge_.

"I don't intend to punish you with my heir. And it _will _be my heir. It isn't as if it doesn't have royal blood," Azula says, her fingers clenching slightly. She is significantly less limp than she was when she was dragged in.

"It can be your heir. But you should know that for the future life of this... child... four other people are going to die. But, it's your choice, of course."

And with that, he knocks on the door and has his daughter pulled away and locked up where he does not have to face her.

Azula lies down silently and does not move.

_"For the future life of this child, four other people are going to die."_

"I want to talk to Azula," Mai says to Ozai, crossing her arms. She has more life in her than he has seen since she was taken captive. The defeat of her friends seems to upset her. "Let's be honest, I'm going to make a lot more progress with her than you will."

Ozai sits up from the sofa he was lying on. It is the dead of the night and they are locked together inside of the parlors mere feet away from Azula's room, and four doors away from Ozai's room.

"I find it hard to believe you have my best interests at heart. You want to convince her to fight me," Ozai says, standing up and walking to Mai. She does not move, but her expression steels. "Azula has already lost. She's dead."

"You can't control her," Mai says breathlessly, batting away his hand as he reaches towards her face. He contemplates punching her to the floor, but he doesn't.

"I always have. I don't think you understand that Azula is afraid of me. I'm the only thing she fears," Ozai says and Mai's nose tingles with unwanted tears. She knows that it is true. "I let you talk to her when she first arrived. That's more than you need."

"I want to talk to Azula," Mai repeats as if it will make a difference. "She may be afraid of you but she doesn't trust you. She trusts me. I'll tell you what she tells me if you let me see her."

Ulterior motives. Ozai knows that she has ulterior motives.

"You can talk to her tomorrow," he allows, knowing he will somehow gut their relationship. He presses his lips against Mai's neck.

She does not move or make an expression as he takes her wrists and pulls her backwards and onto his lap.

"Azula, please talk to me," Mai says for the thousandth time the next day. It is not as if it will help. "I can't do this alone. I really can't. I know you're really... devastated. But Azula we have to do something."

Silence.

"Azula, he's going to kill them. He's going to kill all of them. The execution orders are _signed_."

Silence.

"Azula, I love them."

Silence.

"Azula, I thought you loved her."

Silence. Azula inhales a little too sharply. Mai considers it progress.

"Azula, I know this is hard for you, but you need to do something."

Silence. Maybe Mai imagined the motions of her best friend.

"Azula, I'm... I don't know. I'm responsible for what happened to you guys and I can't live with it. Not that I'll live much longer."

Silence. Azula turns away.

"Azula, you kept talking about how we just needed a weapon. Needed weapons to use. But we already have all the weapons we need. We just need to _fight_."

Silence. Mai digs her fingers into Azula's mattress.

"Azula, you're still in control. You have the power to end this all."

Silence.

"Azula, don't let us die."

Hesitation. Azula's shoulders flutter slightly.

And she responds, although everything in her begs her not to. "We're already dead."

Mai's lip trembles slightly. But she regains her composure, rubbing her face with one hand. Azula resumes doing nothing, and Mai gets up and decides to take matters into her own hands. It kills her to see Azula like this, but lives are at stake.

She makes it to Capitol Prison without many questions asked. While people may hate snitches, selling out Zuko and Azula has given Mai the autonomy to possibly get her friends out of this situation and make it to Ba Sing Se. From there, they'll summon an army and Azula and the Avatar will restore balance to the world.

That was Katara's pipe dream, and to Mai it is sounding pretty good.

"I'm here to see Katara," Mai says, having made her choice on her way there.

Zuko is even more hated than waterbenders. His Nation despises him, his father will most likely keep him alive the longest, and he is not exactly the idea guy. Mai loves him and she knows he will play a vital role by the end, but for now, he is out of the picture. Ty Lee is, well, Ty Lee. Therefore, Mai turns to Katara.

She is guided by guards to the cellblock where Katara is being kept. Mai sees that she is afflicted with the same drugs they used on her in the Boiling Rock, and she looks like she has had the bare minimum to drink that a human needs to survive. Mai invites herself inside and shuts the door behind her.

"Hey, Katara," Mai says, walking close to the bars. Her friend, the one she has the confused feelings for, the one she had sex with, is crumbled on the floor. "I want to talk to you about the escape plan."

Katara is reminded of her stint on a Fire Nation prison ship back when she had to rescue Haru. It brings a small smile to her lips that Mai does not understand.

"How am I supposed to trust you?" Katara rasps and Mai is taken aback. Katara can be skeptical, but surely she knows friends from foes. Or has she finally collapsed under the weight of her failure?

"I did what I had to. And now I'm trying to make it right," Mai sighs, wrapping her fingers around the bars. Katara looks at her with a slightly sad gleam in her cobalt eyes.

"That's... I..." Katara shrugs, to weak to continue. Mai feels a surge of anger that does not show on her face or in her posture. It simply simmers inside of her. "I don't think I'm ever getting out of here."

"We escaped _the Boiling Rock_. I think we can escape Capitol Prison," Mai says and Katara smiles faintly.

"They're moving me tomorrow to a facility that's equipped to hold waterbenders. There's only one left... it's not far from here, though." Katara watches Mai's expression fall. But Katara shrugs. "Maybe I'll escape." Feeble.

But Mai can see that it is too late, and with a word of, "I... I hope you don't die. I really don't know what I'd do. I lo... just don't die on me."

She moves on to Zuko's cell.

"Mai," Zuko says and she feels a swirling guilt inside of her that she visited Katara first.

Being involved with two people at the same time is not as great as it sounds. For a girl who thought love triangles would be... not boring, she finds this unpleasant. But choosing Zuko or Katara means nothing if they both end up executed or worse.

"I need help, Zuko. I need you to help me get us out of here. There's no way we're fighting Ozai and the Fire Nation here, even with Katara and Azula together. We need to get to Ba Sing Se and... I'm coming up short," Mai says slowly and Zuko is amazed that she can sound uninterested even when she feels so passionately. She has her hands on the bars and her eyes intently focused on her boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend, perhaps.

"I've been thinking it over," Zuko says, walking to meet her. She averts her eyes and he can tell it is because of her blossoming relationship with Katara. But Zuko has moved on from petty things like that; he had to with a life like his.

"Do you have any ideas?" Mai asks, narrowing her eyes. Zuko sighs and rubs his neck.

"Kind of," he replies with a shrug.

"Kind of is better than nothing," Mai remarks, shrugging. She has such a pleading look in her eyes that Zuko wonders what happened to the Mai he was with when they were young.

But it is never going to be what it was like when they were teenagers. Zuko is almost twenty; she is sixteen. They're adults and they have been hardened by the comet and its carnage.

"I'm still working it through. But I promise I'll tell you as soon as it's ready. We're going to make it out of here. And we're going to go to Ba Sing Se and get an army," Zuko says with such conviction that Mai believes him. Even if it feels impossible to her.

Mai leaves the prison feeling even more confused and frustrated than she was when she came. Maybe looking for answers is foolish. Perhaps she should just resign herself to the Fire Nation like Azula has. It would be easier, but she would die inside.

She invites herself to Azula's room again and finds she has not moved in the three hours Mai has been gone. Things are getting significantly worse as time passes.

"Azula, I just went to see Zuko and Katara," Mai says and Azula does not react. "They're going to help us go to Ba Sing Se."

Azula smirks as if it is funny, but her face quickly fades. Mai stares at her and feels her stomach twisting.

"The throne is your dream," Mai says, sitting next to her again. She touches Azula's hair and brushes it out of her face. Azula does not react to the touching.

"So?" Azula murmurs, obviously annoyed that Mai is here.

"If you give up your dream you die," Mai says and Azula almost laughs.

"You've spent too much time around Katara. You're almost optimistic and hopeful," Azula says, now amused. Mai punches the mattress near Azula's face and she does not flinch.

Mai gets up and leaves, not having any desire to return.

If Azula won't help, then Mai will have to help herself.


	14. An Accident of Birth

Chapter Fourteen: An Accident of Birth

* * *

><p>Azula is summoned to her father.<p>

"So, little princess," Fire Lord Ozai says as she kneels before the throne. Venom is in her golden eyes, but she keeps her mouth shut. Someday she will kill him. Someday she will be strong enough, "you love making choices. But I think you've never truly dealt with the repercussions."

Azula looks up at him. "This is about the baby."

"This is about your little girlfriend, and your nation," he corrects viciously, although they both know he is lying. Azula slowly stands up, daring to make eye contact. "Do you want me to spare her?"

"What's the price?" Azula asks coldly, but her voice cracks slightly. He knows he has her pinned.

"The price is you making a little speech for me, without going off of the script." It does not sound nearly as bad as Azula assumed. "And after the speech, you will personally oversee the executions of the insurgents who wanted you on the throne."

"You want me to betray my supporters and endorse you."

"Very good job repeating back to me what I just said," Ozai remarks snidely and Azula's neck tenses. "Yes, that's what I want. But it is your choice. You can be a martyr or your girlfriend can live. You can be beloved by the people more than they've loved anyone. Or you can be loved by her. Take your time. They're all only rotting in prison with execution orders signed."

Azula weighs her odds. She cannot fight back. No matter how many times Mai screams in her ear that she has all the weapons she needs against her father, she knows that she will always lose. Whatever it is that curses her, he will always be more powerful and he will always exert that power over her.

She is bold, brilliant and powerful. But he manages to strip away all of that and make her less than human, less than royalty. The love she had for her father that kept her from losing it is gone. He destroyed it himself. Azula looks at him and sees her greatest enemy, but one that will defeat her over and over and over again, unlike anything else she has ever faced.

And suddenly, she gives up. If he will always win, she might as well fight.

As Ozai waits for her to speak, she touches two fingers together and before he can lift an arm the room is blinded by blue light and the deafening crack of lightning. As the smoke clears, Fire Lord Ozai lies dead.

"Azula, I can't wait all day," and father's voice breaks Azula out of her reverie.

Headache. She looks up and the only smoke in the room is from the burning throne. Hallucination. She imagined it. Her fingers are touching behind her back, tempting her to bring him down with a bolt of lightning. But if she were to miss, or if he were to live like Zuko... the repercussions would be too much. It isn't worth it.

She lowers her hands.

"You promise to spare Ty Lee?" Azula inquires feebly. She can see his corpse in her mind but he sits there regally and overly proud.

"Yes," he says with a smug smile. "You just read the words I tell you and let the public know you won't stand for insurgents. I'm sure the new face of Princess Azula will... well, you'll overcome it by the time you're mentally ready to be Fire Lord."

Azula inhales slowly.

She is weak.

The event comes more quickly than Azula would like it to. She stopped eating days ago and feels faint, and her father has forced her to the long lonely dining room table to eat breakfast. She stares at a plate of food and cannot summon the willpower to put it in her mouth. He examines her, looking for a weakness to exploit.

At least he wants her to eat. That's a sign that he may be her father and not just some nightmare.

"I'm sure it's nerve wracking. But, little princess, you can't say good morning without lying twice. The speech is no different, and your teenage love will be saved," he says and Azula feels nauseous. "It's just another lie to get what you want."

"I want you to show her to me," Azula says, pushing her food around on her plate. "I need to see that she's alive; I'm not stupid."

"That's a fair request. Eat your food."

Azula obeys. She hates herself for it, overwhelmed with a twisting feeling as she forces it into her mouth. It was a foolish protest, starvation. Is she that childish and desperate? She has grown into a woman in her time as Fire Lord and her life in the Water Tribe. Little rebellions against her father are a waste of time.

And Fire Lord Ozai complies to Azula's request. Azula sits in the throne room beside him, at his right hand, uncomfortable. Her clothes are pinned in such a way to cover the bump on her abdomen, as if people will not find out eventually. Her hair is washed and tied up. It was riddled with so many knots that a servant nearly cried when she tried to get them out. But, honestly, in the Water Tribe, topknots were not exactly practical.

Princess Azula looks like a corpse of herself, and that is the first thing Ty Lee notices when she is taken into the throne room in handcuffs. Her first thought is that this is her execution, Azula's hollow eyes looking broken.

"You didn't lie," Azula says to her father. Her words don't have enough breath behind them.

Ty Lee gazes at the floor. Azula tries not to move her face at all. She cannot give her father the upper hand, even if he is already winning.

"Then I suppose you can get to practicing your speech," the Fire Lord says and Ty Lee is taken away as quickly as she came.

Azula wraps her arms around herself. She is getting in too deep. Far too deep.

The next day, Azula wakes at sunrise, as she always does. She spends most of the morning vomiting, tears trickling from her eyes as her stomach convulses. She washes out her mouth and still cannot rid herself of the taste. Today she is forced to sacrifice her reputation as a leader for her relationship with Ty Lee.

It is not what Azula would have done years ago. Too much has changed for her liking and she does not know how to process it.

Later, she stands in her room, being fitted into clothes like something her father can show off. It is something she would have tolerated as a child but is degrading now. Maybe she is only sixteen, but she might as well be an adult.

"Make sure you cover up that bump," Fire Lord Ozai remarks in passing, causing one of the four servants making Azula presentable to break out in even more of a sweat.

Azula gazes at herself in the mirror with a thousand yard stare. She seems vacant, Ozai notices, and he does not know if it is to spite him or if she has genuinely given up. He has never seen Azula defeated, not against any foe. Fighting five men at once because he demanded it or fighting against his own fleets and nearly winning. Tactically brilliant.

And he has destroyed that. If she only weren't so broken mentally, she could be great. He contemplated many times the part he played in breaking her down and reducing her to ashes and fragments, but his doubts are easy to sweep aside and chalk it up to her losing her mind.

That could not be because of him. He has done too much for her.

As Ozai walks past the bedroom where Azula is being decorated for her speech, he feels slightly dizzy, thinking about his mistake, his secret that Azula has. That she could use against him in numerous ways. She is too devious, too conniving to trust with... whatever is inside of her.

He pauses at a dusty parlor and looks inside. A shelf with pointless relics of children; from his childhood, from Iroh's, Lu Ten, Azula and Zuko. Each one of them have been casualties of Ozai's rise to power. It is... unfortunate, he supposes.

Walking inside, intrigued by a knife of Iroh's that Ozai once stole, he picks it up and examines it. A small smile he hopes no one will see.

He turns with the sensation that someone is behind him. A little girl, slightly distorted by the shadowy hallway and the sunlight from behind the curtains in the parlor. He looks at her, walking towards her without wondering who she is.

She clutches something in her hands, a ruby sphere that looks incredibly expensive, or like an unwanted present.

The girl turns and is gone, raven hair flowing behind her. Ozai looks around the corner and realizes in his gut who the girl was.

He turns at the shelf and sees the ruby sphere glittering next to drawings and trinkets of Azula's childhood accomplishments.

It is not the first time his daughter has haunted him since she was thirteen; but it is the first time he imagined she was there when she was not.

He leaves the parlor, shutting the door behind him and abandoning the room, and goes to take care of more important arrangements than his daughter's hair.

Azula stands on the balcony where she started a riot. She has memorized the speech, one she helped write, which killed her pride. She looks stunning, the bump is covered. She touches the cold stone of the guardrail and looks at the gathered people.

She announced here the death of her brother. After Sozin's Comet. And she announced that she had become Fire Lord as her father had intended before his untimely death.

How Azula wishes those things were still true.

Azula gives her speech and it is riveting. It is all a lie that is propaganda for Fire Lord Ozai, but the people believe it when they hear it from her. The people of the Fire Nation love her like they have never loved before. The only person she cannot control, the only person she cannot convince, is the man who exercises his power of her with disregard for her health.

Her speech is over as she can only think about memories long gone. Her descent started the day the Fire Nation lost at the North Pole. And she will lay waste to any fleet her father sends at her like the Avatar did that day. She will take her throne will blood and fire, if she can only get to Ba Sing Se.

And now she stands at the execution. Her eyes are fixated on the platform.

"These are accused of high treason, and rebellion in your name," Ozai says with a hint of melodrama. Azula's stomach twists as she detaches from this world. "Do you want to see them die?"

And Azula says with conviction that only a great liar can present, "Yes, father."

She does not close her eyes as they look at her with confusion and betrayal in their expressions. And they are killed one by one, by a firing squad of flames.

Azula is returned to the palace and locked in her room once more. She lies on the bed and wonders where she went wrong. Where she lost her way. She _needs _to win. She _needs _to defeat him but she... she can't. She doesn't know why but she can't.

The door opens and someone is tossed inside. So Ozai did not lie; he has given her Ty Lee in exchange for what she did.

"You look angry," Azula says, caressing the side of Ty Lee's face. Her hand is brushed away and Azula's jaw juts out in rage.

"I don't know if I'm angry or not," murmurs the acrobat, shrugging softly. She glances at the locked door and wonders if her situation has improved at all.

"I just saved your life," Azula says quietly, looking offended. She _is _offended. It killed her to sacrifice her following in the Fire Nation for her girlfriend, but she _did it _and Ty Lee should be grateful.

Ty Lee says nothing in response. Azula gazes at her, at the betrothal necklace against her neck. It throbs with her pulse as she seems to be in a staring contest with the doorknob.

"How am I supposed to live with myself?" Ty Lee asks, her voice strained. Azula is confused; she has just given her a perfect gift and she looks wounded. "You traded all of those people for me. You gave yourself to your father for me."

"You should be flattered, not angry at me," Azula says harshly, offended to the core. It hurts Ty Lee to hurt her but she cannot imagine why Azula would do such a thing. They are both so bad at loving.

"I'm not angry. I'm just... disappointed or something," Ty Lee replies weakly, trying to distance herself from her feelings. That is the only way to handle this with Azula.

"What do you want me to do?" Azula demands, throwing her arms up. She walks to the side of the room and leans against the wall as if she needs it to keep standing. "I'm trying to do what I have to."

"You didn't have to cave in. You just decided to lie down and let all of this happen," Ty Lee says, sitting on her knees. "You're hollow and different and we built his beautiful life and you didn't care about it at all. All you could see is what you wanted, and it's never what you already have."

Azula purses her lips. She has no response, so she averts her eyes. Ty Lee stares at the bedding as if it can give her answers.

"Your father doesn't control you," Ty Lee says, looking up.

"It certainly looks like it," Azula replies sharply and Ty Lee's heart skips a beat. She touches her chest and takes a slow breath. "I haven't given up. But right now... there's nothing I can do and you all seem to assume I have the _magic fix_."

"I've done everything I could for you." Silence. "Apparently it wasn't enough."

Azula punches a flaming hole into the wall. Ty Lee flinches, and then lies down, her hands folded atop her stomach.

_"Love is jealous, petty, cruel and manipulative," Azula tells the mirror. She is half-dressed and in disarray. Her thoughts are still strongly on the loss of her virginity, and the girl she lost her virginity to. "Love is not desirable."_

_ Her words sound like things her father would say. _

_ Maybe she is just running on her father's wisdom. Though, what else does she have? Everything she is, he taught her to be. And he has been right._

_ He made me a weapon. Trained, carefully honed and sharpened. I..._

_ Azula shakes her head and the train of thought disappears. She finishes getting dressed and walks to the courtyard to train. She struggles at first, keeping slipping up. Cursing at herself when her feet don't move the right way, when the flames are uncontrollable, when she has a hair out of place. The only time the thoughts go away are when she feels the hum of lightning surging through her body._

_ She blasts a tree in two with a single bolt._

_ Better? Sort of._

"I'm apparently not good enough for you," Azula says, solely to hurt Ty Lee; she does not believe a word of it.

"I'm going to sleep, Azula," Ty Lee whispers, not wanting to fight. Azula wanted a screaming match, but she just stares out of the window and digs her fingers into the sill.

_"Do you really believe that we'll win this war?" Ty Lee says, sitting up and crawling close to Azula. _

_ "Of course I do. I always win," Azula says softly, not sure where this night is going. She thinks of the kiss that should not have been. The dance of sexual craving and odd romance that permeates what once was platonic._

_ "Your confidence is inspiring. When you say it... I guess I believe too. Or maybe I believe that you believe. And... I guess that's good enough," Ty Lee says, and Azula does not see the fear in her eyes. "What if these are our last moments?"_

_ "We've beat them time and time again. And we're going to burn it all to the ground anyway. That comet, I mean, these aren't our last days─"_

_ Azula's monologue is cut off by Ty Lee kissing her. It was her this time who initiated, although she took the blame last time. Azula kisses her back._

_ They latch onto each other in the hot summer night. They kiss again, more frantically, tongues in each other's mouths. Azula slips off her ruby nightgown, Ty Lee's eyes following it every as it is discarded onto the floor. She looks at the princess's body, blushing. She is intoxicating._

_ Legs interlocked. A thousand burning kisses. Ty Lee takes off her own clothes, struggling with them. They have awkward limbs, discomfort. Azula breathes out smoke at some point, as Ty Lee's fingers slip up the inside of her thigh swirling along the way._

_ Azula does not know how to do this, but she moves like some kind of creature risen from the sea. Ty Lee feels her heart beating far too fast as Azula touches her neck and pushes her down. On top of her she is in control, she is not caving in to desires she is not allowed to have._

_ With the brush of tentative hands against breasts, Ty Lee moans and Azula decides she does not care anymore._

_ She gives herself to her raw desire like she was taught never to do._

Azula lies down, close to Ty Lee but far away at the same time.

Maybe she really was Azula's downfall.

And she is attracted to her in some sick, self destructive way.

Maybe she should have let her die.

Time passes. It does. Even when it lags endlessly. Zuko plots every day, in his cell. He has no idea how like his uncle he has become. But he does not think the retired general would be proud of him. Zuko has tasted failure and slept in these cells before and he does not handle it as well as he could.

Zuko needs to get out. And he will take his friends with him. Grab Korra and make a new Team Avatar. He thinks about it when he goes to sleep, when he wakes up. He scratches marks into the walls to try to keep track of the days and it has been at least two months.

The door opens and a new guard comes in. He must have just started, or transferred cell blocks.

"The traitor prince, huh?" he asks, his voice high enough to still be young. Zuko does not respond to him. "People have hated you for so long now it's almost boring. We shouldn't be turning on our own even if they're traitors, in my opinion."

Zuko raises an eyebrow.

"The guard I replaced said that every time he takes you out of your cell he changes the scratches on the wall." Silence. "I don't approve of beating prisoners or any of that bullshit. None of you are worth my time or my fists."

"You're cocky. Born rich? Went to school but had to drop out because you couldn't keep up with grades, and your father got you into the military? You're serving here because you're too afraid to go on the front lines in the Earth Kingdom, but you just make excuses about it and say you're waiting for the right offer to come up," Zuko says slowly, his voice hoarse from lack of using it. The guard looks frightened and Zuko feels an awful lot like Azula.

"Well, what screwed you over?" the guard replies huffily, although he looks unnerved.

"An accident of birth." Silence. Zuko shrugs and stands up, walking to the other side of the cell.

As Zuko contemplates the fact that he was screwed from the moment he was born, Azula is hung up on what exactly is going to happen to herself and her vengeance.

"You really need to stop calling it your _vengeance_. It's a _baby_," Ty Lee says, trying to pry open the window. She managed to open it a crack yesterday with the arms that can support her entire body suspended off of the ground, but today it is as if it is bolted shut.

"It's not like I'm having it to do baby things."

"Maybe you'll want to do baby things when you have it."

"My father is going to steal it from me. I know he will. We'll have to rescue it," Azula says for the thousandth time.

"He isn't going to steal it. We're prisoners here. It's not like we're going to walk out the door the moment you give birth," Ty Lee says with a roll of her protuberant eyes, Azula shuddering visibly at the last two words. "I can't believe you're putting yourself through this just to punish your dad. I think a lightning bolt through his face would be less... messy."

"We need every weapon we can get," Azula says, trying to find a comfortable position in her bed and failing.

"I think you secretly want it."

"I think you should mind your place."

"Mind my _place_? We were getting married." Pause. "You're a traitor like me, you're locked up like me and you've been knocked down to my level pretty hard." Pause. "I'm sorry. That's a terrible thing to say. I'm just sweaty and I haven't eaten all day and..."

Ty Lee trails off. Azula clearly is not listening, or is pretending not to listen. Ty Lee sits down at the foot of the bed, near Azula's feet, and examines her face. She looks pale and on the gaunt side. Ty Lee looks no better when she sits in front of the mirror and tries to attempt braid upkeep.

"He has to die sometime," Azula says softly, her mantra. "Rulers reign. They reign and then they die. That's the natural order of things."

"I don't think Fire Lord Ozai plays by the rules," Ty Lee whispers and Azula swallows. Her mouth feels dry and she does not want to admit that she is weak and the only way she holds on is by pretending her father cares.

"He loves me," Azula says, her voice barely a breath. "He's always loved me and we wouldn't be alive if he didn't. I was his choice, his... replacement child."

"Replacement child?" Ty Lee has never heard of this, and she imagined she would hear a lot of it from Azula. "You never talked about that."

"I've never talked about a lot of things," Azula says and Ty Lee supposes she is right. The princess keeps secrets far better than her girlfriend. "He had me because he thought Zuko was so disappointing. My mother didn't want me. It showed."

"That's why you and Zuko blame each other for your problems, " Ty Lee says and Azula shrugs. "Because you were born to hate each other. That's so sick!"

"I don't think we hate each other," Azula corrects, but it is futile. She and Zuko may get along now that they've both been scorned by Ozai, but they still blame each other for each fault.

"Do you think he's alive?" Ty Lee asks, touching Azula's ankle. The princess does not react to her fingers.

"Probably. I think my father would make a show of it if he killed the traitorous Fire Nation Prince."

"Korra?"

"He has no idea she's the Avatar. I think she'll be indoctrinated into the Fire Nation because she's young. We've done that with prisoners plenty of times. Only to send them off to die in war but... hmph." Azula shrugs and sighs.

"Katara?"

"He also would show that off. They're both probably in prison. Mai visited them up until a month ago," Azula states as if she is commenting on the weather. Ty Lee cannot help but be perturbed by how _detached _Azula has become in her nearly three months of captivity.

"Can I ask you something?" Ty Lee inquires, running her fingertips up and down Azula's leg. She can feel the bones.

"We have lots of time," Azula replies bitterly, making a strange face.

"Why do you break down for him? You've killed people stronger than your father. Your bending is _way _more powerful than his. If you wanted, I bet you could kill him. You've had chances and... I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." Ty Lee stops moving her hand.

"He's more powerful than I am. My bending doesn't matter in this case. I've tried to fight him and I've always regretted it. I can't challenge him unless I have an army."

"He can't control you anymore."

"Yes, he can."

"Why, Azula? Why do you just shut down at the sight of him? Why didn't you take him out at the South Pole?" Ty Lee demands shrilly, her eyes swelling with melodramatic tears.

"Don't ask anymore," Azula says forcefully, closing her eyes and pulling up the blankets around herself.

"You are not weak. You are brave and beautiful and..."

"Don't."

And Ty Lee doesn't.

The scratches on the wall are too confusing by the time Zuko is removed from his cell. He has been occasionally for basic healthcare and the occasional brutality, both opposite ends of the extreme. But the current guard, as they change every week or so, tells him his father wants to see him.

This cannot be good, is the only thing Zuko can think as he is guided in a prison carriage to the palace. He is dizzy and faint as he leans against the hot steel walls and realizes that it is summer. It's _summer_. Two years have passed since his failure during the comet.

Almost one year has passed since he joined forces with his sister against a common enemy. Two years since she defeated he and Katara. His time in the South Pole was short-lived compared to his time behind bars. He has been in and out of prison more than a kleptomaniac. But he is hated a lot more than the common thief.

When he arrives at the palace, he is escorted to his room. It is so permeated with dust that he coughs, phlegm rising in his throat. Servants handle him very carefully, not speaking even when he addresses them. Father must have ordered that.

He looks... almost like a prince when they are finished. It takes until the sun is setting for him to be groomed like some kind of poodle-monkey for his father's amusement. But he does not mind being out of the filth and squalor of the prison.

As the sun dips below the horizon, he is led to the dining room. It is as cold and dark as it has ever been. Only three chairs are at the overly long table, and Zuko tries to remember a time when it was full of life and a large family. But they have been picked up one by one by Ozai's lust for power.

Zuko is seated directly across from his father. He meets Fire Lord Ozai's eyes without fear of retribution. He won't submit, no matter what they do to him.

"You asked for me?" Zuko inquires as his father studies him closely.

"I just want to have dinner with you," father says and Zuko can tell there is more to it than that.

Candles are lit and Zuko wonders if he could seize control of them, but his thoughts are squashed by handcuffs. His firebending has grown in strength since he last saw his father; he practiced at the South Pole. But even he can't do anything with his hands and feet shackled. The shadowy servant doing this sets his hands on the table as if he cannot do it himself.

Free enough to eat, not free enough to fight. Typical of his father.

They are joined before Zuko can say another word.

"You look awful," Zuko says, neglecting the fact that the Fire Lord always speaks first.

"Thank you. Just what every girl wants to hear," hisses his sister.

She does look terrible. Zuko spent a lot of time imagining how much better off she was. Probably living in a palace and getting her hair washed by servants and free from any repercussions. But she was hit as hard as him. Maybe worse; he heard about her forced speech. The people she claimed to execute who were her supporters. Prison might have been better; at least Zuko could see the bars.

"Well, we're all here now," Fire Lord Ozai says and Zuko looks up at him. Azula doesn't; she stares at her gilded, empty plate. Zuko finds it incredibly odd; he has never seen his sister so... hollow. "Look at me, Azula." She doesn't. "Look at me." She doesn't and Zuko struggles against the handcuffs. It is _killing _him to see her this way.

It is like the guards that took pleasure in beating Zuko and making his life as miserable as possible. As punishment for betraying his Nation. Except this is her own father trying to make her pay, and that is sick. And Azula still loves him, Zuko is certain.

"Zuko, turn your sister's face towards me," Fire Lord Ozai says and Zuko twitches towards her. But he stops. The worst Ozai can do is kill him... and that wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to Zuko.

"No," Zuko says and Azula's head pops up.

She glances between them, looking startled. Yet vaguely dazed. From her shoulders up she looks like a starved prisoner in one of the old places where grandfather held waterbenders. They were treated more harshly than any other group imprisoned or executed. And Zuko was told all about it when they took Katara to one. People seem to be under the impression that she is his girlfriend, but that does not mean he doesn't care about her.

Azula looks far, far more pregnant than when Zuko last saw her. He was forced to watch her speech some time ago and he could barely see a bump, and Azula did not look like she is made of bones and bones alone. He cannot believe how much has changed.

And that he did not stop it.

"Let's attempt casual conversation. Or have you become uncivilized so quickly living among the Water Tribe?" Fire Lord Ozai says, almost kindly. As if putting on a show. But nobody is watching but slaves.

Azula takes a breath, feeling relatively inspired by her brother saying _no _to their father. This is her time, her time to hurt him.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, I don't mean to spoil but the _best _thing I've ever written is the next chapter. At least in my opinion. It may or may not include a much needed Agni Kai between Azula and Ozai_. _Thank you for all the reviews lately. It's been awesome. I love to hear what everybody thinks and all.


	15. An Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend

A/N: This chapter is, in my opinion, the best thing I've ever written. Maybe it sucks and everybody disagrees, but I feel like it's my personal best.

This is an incredibly fast update because I'm incredibly excited.

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><p>Chapter Fifteen: An Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend<p>

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><p>"Maybe we should talk about the new addition to the family," Azula says brightly, her voice sweet like poison mixed into sugared tea.<p>

"That's unnecessary," Fire Lord Ozai says forcefully and Zuko raises an eyebrow.

"I'm getting a niece or nephew. I'd love to hear about them. Azula looks pretty... close," Zuko says, feeling mildly uncomfortable discussing his sister being pregnant.

"Oh, well, it's apparently getting a room with an entire royal guard to keep everyone out. And Ty Lee keeps insisting on naming it, perhaps you have some ideas, brother," Azula says and Ozai almost looks relieved. "Maybe we should name him after his father."

Zuko perks up. Azula never revealed who the father was. She made passing comments about it being some guy she fucked as Fire Lord because she felt like it. It was reasonable enough. Save for the fact she has told Zuko multiple times she only likes girls.

But he took it as the fact that when you're Fire Lord it's like an endless orgy. Probably.

"Azula, shut up," father says, looking livid. Zuko wonders why it upsets him so much.

"No," Azula says, staring directly into his eyes. His hands twitch to attack her but he does not. "Do you think we should name him after his father? It's a good name."

"Azula, silence."

She does not falter.

"Well, what's his father's name?" Zuko asks eagerly and Azula takes a haughty breath. She looks incredibly smug as father is almost melting his golden goblet.

Azula stops short of saying it. She looks like she was just ice skating and got too close to thin ice. Zuko takes over; he has less to lose.

"Or perhaps we should just go with the trend for our brothers and sisters. A_zu_la, _Zu_ko. For Fire Lord Ozai's heirs," Azula says slowly, each word carefully calculated.

Zuko looks at his father, unsure what Azula means. She seems to be incriminating him for something but she always hated mother; it isn't like Azula to care about him with new women.

"I figured you had a few children other than us, but you can't really claim another heir unless..." Zuko shuts his mouth before he speaks anymore. He answered his own question with his words. His eyes bulge momentarily as he hopes he is wrong.

"We haven't even been served food yet and you've already decided to defy me," Ozai says, leaning towards her.

"Well, when you're done with me I won't be so defiant anymore, will I?" Azula says, her eyes glittering with the old malice and power that they once did. Before her captivity. Before she gave up. "Or do you just say that to all the girls?"

Father stabs his knife into the wooden table and there is a loud crack from the force. Zuko moves back slightly but Azula looks on the verge of standing up.

"You're going to be quiet now," father says, his voice with a forced calmness. It unnerves Zuko more than if he were shouting. "You're trying to prove that you're fit for the throne and with outbursts like that I should just lock you up in some asylum."

Azula makes a face as if she is about to continue her tirade, but she sinks back into her defensive posture. Zuko is both relieved and angry.

The food is served without further event. Zuko and Azula are perfectly silent unless directly asked a question. It is almost like the precious two years between mother leaving and Zuko being banished. Just far more fucked up, which is saying something.

Zuko looks at his food uncomfortably. Azula does not eat; she looks queasy.

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't be so childish, Azula," Fire Lord Ozai says as Zuko hesitantly puts soup in his mouth. He is only doing it because he thinks he might say a variety of things that could get he and his friends all killed. Keeping his mouth full is likely for the best.

"For fear of offending you, how am I being childish, father?" Azula says in a tone that sounds like ice about to crack. About to crack and drown everyone in the vicinity.

"You don't eat just to spite me. Put the food in your mouth before I force it down your throat," he says and Azula examines her fork.

"Not the only thing you've shoved down my throat," Azula murmurs to herself. Zuko is certain he is putting a spin on this wording that does not exist. That _should not _exist.

"Both of you eat. Both of you do as I say," Ozai says, and Zuko can tell that he sees he is not in control of the room. Zuko and Azula are, but they are not doing anything flashy about it. "You owe me. Both of you owe me, because without me you would be nothing. I'm not talking about being your father. You both would amount to _nothing _if you weren't fortunate enough to be born royal. Now just pay your dues."

"We certainly owe you at least this dinner," Azula purrs, suddenly extremely confident. She picked up the power Ozai dropped and is running with it. "Well, I was never clear on what _Zuko_ owed you. Perhaps, seeing as this is meant to make us, hm, _bond _as we cohabitate as a family again, you can tell me what Zuko owes you, father."

"Just respect." A slight smirk as Ozai sees that Zuko recalls their parting words when he was thirteen and banished. "Which he does not deliver on. Yet."

"Well, that's slightly unfair. I mean, _I've _respected you my entire life. Particularly after what happened to Zuko. But every time I asked _why_, you told me it was because I owed you. Because everything in my life I only had because you decided to make me." Pause. Zuko tries to look small. Ozai looks about to burn the palace down. "Zuko owes you respect, as anyone would owe the Fire Lord. And I owe you years of sex. That's logical."

And Azula barely dodges fire that burns the portrait behind her to a crisp. She falls on her hands and knees, gasping and lighting up her fists in cerulean.

Zuko intervenes. His hands are shackled and his feet bound, but he roars fire that momentarily blinds his father.

Ozai stops with two fingers aimed at Zuko. But killing his son in a fit of rage while he cannot even fight back is _low_. He grabs Azula by the back of her neck like a kitten and pulls her to her feet.

"I want both of them out of here," Ozai orders and his children are led away, as he melts cutlery in fuming rage.

As Zuko and Azula are led out, Azula stops in place. The servants dragging Zuko by chains stop as well instead of pulling him away and leaving her behind.

Azula gives them a look of acknowledgment and Zuko realizes that Azula has far more allies in the Fire Nation than he considered. It would only make sense that she had people on her side here; there was a rebellion after her overthrowing, after all.

"I want to talk to you. While we're alone," Azula says, stepping backwards. The hands are removed from Zuko and he follows her to stand in the center of the hall. They are beneath a portrait of Fire Lord Sozin. It feels oddly fitting; his ancestors gather here to discuss ending the war he began.

"How about you explain that whole insanity at dinner?" Zuko asks, still looking disgusted. But Azula does not care for petty things like her dignity. Right now, she has more to worry about. "What did he do to you, Azula?"

"We'll have plenty of time to discuss that later. Right now, I need to know where you stand. I need to know if you still plan to go to Ba Sing Se," Azula says slowly, her words barely a breath but with the intent of screaming.

"I do. I've been thinking about it," Zuko says, taking a deep breath. "It'll be easier when I'm here."

Azula scoffs, looking at him like he is a child who said something stupid.

"Of course. It's _so _easy to escape here. Do you think I would be standing here right now with you if I could have _escaped_?" Azula says in a mocking tone.

"You haven't changed, have you?" Zuko asks, shaking his head with half his lip in a snarl. "You still think you're better than everyone else. I guess you are; I always thought you were. You got the best of everything and it sure shows."

"I don't understand, Zuko," Azula says flatly, looking unimpressed. Zuko shakes his head. "You were banished at thirteen to be raised by your loving and doting uncle. Women love scars, anyway. It hurt for a couple of weeks. _A couple of weeks_. Do you know what I would give to hurt for a _couple of weeks_?"

"I'm the one who's giving you a chance. I helped you at the South Pole and─"

"Go ahead. Be poor victimized disgraced Zuko. I don't care. You spent your whole life being so fucking jealous of me because I was good at firebending and father supposedly loved me more than you. I spent years of my life just wishing I was you." She looks livid. Zuko has never seen her so far from collected, so enraged. He flinches instinctually, moving back before she kills him.

"I never said I was a victim."

"You don't have to. You played the part to join the Avatar. You _justify _yourself by being a _victim_. I never have aimed to kill you. I've never hated you even in all of my envy, no matter how much I thought you were better off than me, I still never aimed to kill. You think I don't know how to kill someone instantly with lightning? You think I don't?"

Zuko's face is turning as red as his scar. Father is going to hear her outburst any moment, but she doesn't seem to care.

But she quiets. Too quiet.

Zuko says softly, "I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you. But I'm not to blame. We have a common enemy, and one of his tactics is to turn us against each other. It doesn't matter who's jealous of who. It matters what we _do about it_."

Azula examines him for a moment. Her rage settles like a burning bonfire to a quiet hearth.

"And you have a plan for this?" Azula says, stepping closer to him.

"I do. And you're coming with me."

Azula blinks in response. "I... I'll trust you. Don't let me down, or you'll regret it."

"I appreciate your faith in your fuck-up older brother," Zuko says with a small smile. She doesn't smile in response, but her eyes look far less angry. "Please remember what I said. Enemies are a lot weaker when they're fighting each other instead of you."

"We should have figured that out a long time ago," Azula says coldly as she turns away and disappears into the dark halls.

Zuko turns to the servants and bows to them. They look startled.

"Thank you. You've just made an amazing difference in the world. Now, uh, I guess take me to my cell like he said." Zuko holds out his handcuffed hands and lets them drag him away.

Azula is escorted back to her room. She feels a certain pleasure for having angered her father. The dinner was a spectacle of absurdity and she loved it. The rush of power was something she has not experienced in a long time.

Ty Lee presses her lips against Azula's with ferocity. They sit down beside each other.

"How did it go?" she asks, running her fingers up and down Azula's arm. Azula studies Ty Lee closely, every feature, every expression... like she studies her opponents.

She thinks she might love Ty Lee and it terrifies her. The sex is one thing. The love is another altogether. They jumped right on each other as soon as Ty Lee was out of prison, but love... love comes slow for Azula. Or it does not come at all.

"Does Zuko have a plan?" Ty Lee asks, caressing Azula's neck.

"Yes. I don't know if it will work. He didn't tell me about it. I think we'll get out. We _have _to get out," Azula says sharply, ferociously. Ty Lee sees the dragon in her eyes again and she has never been so happy to look at Azula in her life.

"I just want to say... and this may be belated. In spite of everything I've gone through since I left prison for your revenge mission, it's been good to see you again, Azula," Ty Lee says, smiling. Azula cocks an eyebrow.

"It's good to see you again too," Azula says, laughing slightly at how late this exchange is. They have been around the world together, and now here they are, trapped in the Fire Nation again.

"I missed you in prison. And, uh, right now it's pretty nice to share a prison with you," Ty Lee says, the words stumbling out of her mouth.

Azula looks... pleased. She kisses Ty Lee. Again. Again. It does not evolve into sex and both of them are alright with that. It isn't just physical anymore.

"He can't take this from us. Even if... even if one of us is going to die..." Ty Lee murmurs and Azula swallows. "I mean, we won't. I don't think we will."

"You're not dying, Ty Lee. I'm putting my foot down. I will _not _allow that to happen," Azula says ferociously and Ty Lee's cheeks flush. "If someone even tried to touch you, I would burn them alive. Slowly. Very slowly."

"Okay. I'll try not to die. But... Azula..."

"Yes?" Azula asks, finding this conversation more comfortable than she thought she would.

"That year without you was pretty terrible. Even if you're actually pretty terrible. I mean, you're completely unbearable to be around half the time. And you're jealous and petty and entitled and, I can't imagine myself ever being with anyone but you," Ty Lee says fiercely and Azula smirks.

"I... the feeling is mutual."

But Azula's eyes give away how much she is in love.

Ty Lee smirks smugly and starts to get ready for bed.

Two weeks after her dinner with Zuko, Azula has not been able to communicate with him at all about their plans. Too many spies, too much supervision. She can only hope that he is conniving as much as she is.

Two weeks after her dinner with Zuko, Azula doesn't remember much when she wakes up. Then she feels pain. Only pain, as if she has just been tortured. The confusion sets in as she sits up, finding herself in a new red dress she has never seen, which does not seem like the kind of thing a seventeen year old future Fire Lord should wear. It's something for a small town girl at her friend's wedding to wear, not something... regal.

Pain in her sides, her legs, her breasts, pain in her cunt; she feels like she just finished incredibly brutal training. The disorientation sets in as she has no idea where she is. In pain, clueless, barely remembering her own name and in agony, she fumbles through the ugly red curtains and comes out in one of the little used rooms of the palace.

It comes back to her like a punch in the gut. Agni, her gut feels weird right now.

She just remembers passing out, arguing with her father. It was like some kind of divine intervention as she was shouting insults at him and then her own body turned against her. Child... child.. baby? Something.

Maybe she hit her head. She walks to the door and tries to open it, but she is locked in. Suffocation sets in; the imagining of it at least. She can feel the invisible bruises on her neck again, like she used to before the South Pole. Princess Azula unravels more every day.

Azula takes a deep breath, feeling weak and feeling her bones. She slams her flaming foot into the door and it crumbles, charred and explosive wood flying into walls and scraping her cheek. But she does not feel the pain as she goes walking, barefoot in a dress that hangs too loosely around someone who was just knocked up.

She touches her abdomen and tries to figure this out. It feels like Mai. Ugh, that's a weird thought. But slender and vaguely squishy from not endlessly working out more than her wrists and legs. It does not feel like her vengeance pressing against her, occasionally moving and making her queasy at the thought.

"You're awake," says a voice she does not recognize. The woman touches her arms and Azula breaks free, although she is weaker than she usually is.

Her heart speeds up when she realizes that she is inhibited, has little core strength and completely unsure what is happening around her.

She seizes the woman by the shirt and tries to look intimidating. But she is a pale prisoner in a party dress that looks out of place on her bruised legs and protruding shoulders.

"Tell me what's happening before I'm forced to burn you alive," Azula says fiercely and the woman looks frightened. _Good_.

"You've been slipping in and out of consciousness for two days now."

"Where are my brother and my girlfriend?"

"I don't know where they're being held."

Azula breaks away from the woman and walks towards the throne room. She is stumbling and holding her hip as she tries to make her way. It feels like the nightmares she has where she is rendered useless, helpless, and is desperately clawing for power as she suffocates.

But it's real. It isn't another hallucination. Not a vivid dream.

It's real and it terrifies her.

She makes it to the throne room and finds none of the twenty advisors present. Azula takes a deep breath and forces open the golden doors that usually require four guards to open. And she falls onto her knees with the motion propelled by fire and raw rage.

Gasp. Look up. He is here.

"You woke up," he says, twitching to step down from the throne but deciding against it. Azula looks at the guards and they step back at her gaze of a dying predator ready to strike.

"Where are they?" Azula demands.

"Thinking of others before yourself. That's a first for you, little princess."

"I am _not _your little princess!" Azula pushes herself to her feet. The guards grab her at the motion of Ozai's hand, but she slams her elbow into one of them and burns the neck of the other, sending them bleeding and screaming to the ground.

Two more come at her and she frantically burns and burns, blindly and without the control she mastered so carefully.

After laying waste to the only guards, she limps towards the throne. She stops as flames surge up, bathing the room in red and the heat of a furnace.

"Where are they?" Azula pauses. "If you won't tell me, fight me. Or are you too afraid to actually have an Agni Kai for the throne like a civilized person?"

"Do you really think you could win?" The flames die out entirely and the room is uncomfortably dark. The only light comes from windows in the hall trickling through the ajar doors. "You're clearly hurt and disoriented. You can barely stand and you think you can beat the man who defeated the Avatar?"

"I will try," Azula says and he is startled by her _bravery_. It isn't something he ever instilled in her. "Or, alternatively, you can tell me where they all are."

"At least you have enough decency to not do this in a middle of a solar eclipse."

"Where are they?"

"I'm going to offer you a deal. A bargain. Because I don't think you want to fight me. You can barely breathe," father says and Azula clenches her jaw. She is shaking in her legs, about to fall, but not going to allow herself to.

"What's your deal?" Azula spits before stumbling and inhaling twice too fast. Fire Lord Ozai almost feels bad about this.

"You can forget about all of these alliances you've made with the impression that you can get my brother to give you an _army_, which is possibly the worst of your delusions. And you can wait for the throne like you should. I think you get what you want and I save myself the conundrum of not knowing if I should kill you or not," he says calmly, as if he is not unnerved at all about the girl who looks about to throttle him.

"Who told you about Ba Sing Se?" Ba Sing Se, a dream. Katara's dream that she made sound so powerful that they all worked to achieve it.

"Zuko. Who else?" Fire Lord Ozai steps down from the throne and Azula does not move back. He does not think he has ever seen someone not at least lean backwards slightly.

"That sounds like a fair deal," Azula says and he almost smiles before realizing she has more to say, "for you. I'm _done _waiting. I spent my whole life keeping out of everyone's way, just biding me time until power was handed to me. I am never going to do that again."

"You should've quit while you were ahead, Azula," he says and she blinks twice at his use of her entire name. "I accept your offer."

She did not intend for this. But she will do it. She defeated Katara and Zuko while in bad shape and it cannot be much worse than now.

"Well, this is the first not underhanded and unnatural thing you did for the throne," Azula says, stepping back slowly. "In fact, it's probably the first not underhanded and unnatural thing you've ever done."

"We need someone to supervise this. And, look, it's almost sunset. You have excellent timing." He leaves the room, his true intent to give her time to think about this. And give himself time to think about possibly striking her down, whether intentionally or not.

Azula supports herself on the wall, closing her eyes and going over motions in her head. Her breath is shuddering and her thighs hurt and she is not going to win.

She is not going to win.

But, ultimately, she decides, it is better than enduring what he'll put her through for years and years and years...

"Zuko?" Azula is torn out of her thoughts.

He looks at her and quickly looks away. This is... surprising to say the least.

_An enemy of my enemy is my friend._

He didn't flip sides. Not again. Zuko has been through far too much to switch sides again. But he is not in handcuffs. It's clearly just to fuck with her head. It must be. She didn't start trusting these people just for them to betray her.

"Father," Zuko says and Azula's lip twitches into a slight snarl, "she looks like she needs medical attention, not an Agni Kai."

"That, Zuko, is why you are weak. Your sister isn't afraid to fight me. Well, at least she isn't crying yet," Fire Lord Ozai says and Zuko grits his teeth and averts his eyes. Azula examines them both.

"Why would Zuko supervise?" Azula asks as the doors are closed. The guards are on the outside and only two out of Ozai's three children remain in the room with him.

"It's a family matter," father replies with laughter in his voice.

Azula steps forward, dragging one foot to Zuko's wide eyes.

She steadies herself and hopes for the best.

Azula takes several deep breaths. They feel weird against her lungs and diaphragm as she breathes. She pretends that Zuko is not there, although the feelings of betrayal are surging in her like livid bile. She holds up one arm and Zuko looks away.

His sister is going to die.

It starts too slowly; Zuko feels like there is something surreal behind his father's motions. Azula is trembling like a leaf in the wind, but her eyes would intimidate a moose-lion. Father looks too calm, as if he does not think Azula can do this. He removes his shirt with ease and walks to her slowly, watching her shake and blink too fast.

Zuko steps back towards the wall. He has to watch; he has known this position before. Being a prince you see a lot of Agni Kais. The last one he was in did not go so well, however, so perhaps he is not as much of an expert as he used to think he was.

She looks worse than she did when he fought her. Much worse.

He visualizes her in the South Pole, in the Fire Nation ship, laughing with their friends. She looked... happy for the first time when she was not accomplishing great feats. Her life was different and she rose from the ashes like a phoenix.

But her descent is disgusting. Four months imprisoned in her own home. Forced to give scripted speeches and stay out of the way so no one could see what he did to her.

Zuko knows that his father is free to kill her, which she does not believe. She spent her entire life being his heir, the one groomed for the throne. But he has two others to choose from, and one of them does not remember a life before Ozai's reign. That was the undoing of Zuko and Azula.

The fight starts. Ozai strikes first and Azula dances out of the way like she so easily does. His fists come at her nearly like Zuko's and she twists and bends like water on fire. He slows down, realizing brute force does not work.

Perhaps he never fought her. Zuko would be faring much better.

Azula does not light a single fingertip as Ozai comes at her with a whirlwind of flame. It breaks around her body with one hand held up.

Maybe she won't die.

And then it happens; Azula strikes. She moves with a barrage of blue that her father easily dodges but is thrown off kilter by.

"That's not a move," Ozai says as she slips backwards, shifting from foot to foot, waiting for him to strike. His hands are lit, a flame so bright that it validates him and his existence. He defeated the Avatar. He is the greatest firebender who ever lived.

"Textbooks are boring," Azula says before running directly at him. She kicks up his muscled form and pushes off, dodging the defensive strike that any firebender would do when an ankle dug into their abdomen.

She catches herself briefly. And then she falls as a stumbling and tripping Ozai releases a wave of fire that she barely blocks around her body. Gasping on the floor, she turns over and pushes herself up. Zuko does not expect his father to wait, but Ozai hesitates, poised to kill her.

Maybe he enjoys watching her struggle, or maybe he does not want to kill her.

Azula stands up and looks at him. He moves towards her, deciding that his offense is going to do far better against someone so unpredictable. She catches his hands, brushing them away.

One grazes her throat and she swallows, frozen briefly. Ozai moves back slightly, clearly startled by her sudden interruption. Her eyes flicker and she pops back up, but he grabs her by the arm, fizzling out the blue flame about to collide with his mouth, and flips her to the floor.

He puts one foot on her ribs. Her sore ribs. She closes her eyes and exhales slowly, as if she is not going to throw him off of her.

Zuko watches it play out in confusion. Azula does not _give up_. The fight could still continue even if he got her on her back. But she does not move. He wins without the second round.

"I'm not going to kill you," Ozai says, as if it is a great gift. Azula still lies there. He holds out one hand to her and she stares at it for a moment.

Finally, she takes it, shaking and swallowing and gasping for breath. Zuko clenches his fists and prepares to intervene. But Fire Lord Ozai leaves her on her feet and slowly walks towards the throne.

There is nothing showy or elaborate about what Azula does next. The room erupts in a deafening sound, and Ozai falls, stumbling to his knees and screaming in pain. Zuko has never heard his father make that sound and his gut clenches.

He gasps, on the verge of vomiting, crumbling onto the floor. The air smells like burning flesh.

Two of Azula's fingers smoke as she slinks to the wall and holds herself against it, her knees buckling.

Zuko moves to her as Ozai tries to stand, cursing. He bleeds profusely, his body is wracked with a pain he has never felt. But he is alive. Disoriented and in a pain he did not think fire could cause the Fire Lord. Lighting is the most painful injury you can obtain, and Ozai can only see red.

"Get off of me," Azula snaps at Zuko, pushing on his back. Her arms do nothing against her brother, who, despite her beating him at every game, is much stronger than her physically. "Get off of me Zuko or we'll both die."

"Since when did you care about other people?" Zuko says, offering her a sick smile.

She smiles back.

Ozai is still leaning against the throne. Zuko wonders if they can run. The doors are shut but he could probably open them with this much adrenaline in his veins. Father looks jarred and broken. Some of his bones probably shattered with the impact of lightning.

It is not something you easily get over.

"He's really hurt. I'm going for the door," Zuko states, leaving Azula for a moment and swearing he will come back, and pushing on the golden gates.

They don't budge as Ozai now turns to his children. He locked them in for good reason, apparently.

"Zuko, get away from the door. I'm giving you a chance," he orders, his voice constricted with pain. The Fire Lord shoves himself off of the throne, walking towards them slowly. He clenches his teeth from the pain in every step.

Zuko moves away from the door and Ozai momentarily has a smug smile. But Zuko stands in front of his sister. She rolls her eyes and pushes on him again.

"Stop being so fucking noble. Just because you're friends with the─" Azula hisses before she is cut off by a wave of red fire going at them. The siblings scatter in separate directions to avoid it.

"You, come here." Ozai grabs Azula by the shoulder, pulling her up. She resigns herself to it with a certain... pleasure. She knows she is going to die and instead of fighting like the Azula Zuko always knew, she wants it to happen.

She thinks it's better. Maybe it is. Zuko crawls to the side of the room, not knowing if he will escape unscathed.

Ozai forces Azula in front of him and holds her at arm's length. He examines her slowly, lips curled in a snarl... or perhaps a smile.

"I never thought I would do this," he says, clearly taking no pleasure in his victory. "But you're too far gone. Your daughter, however, is salvageable."

Azula swallows. Her reaction is small but poignant to Zuko.

It was her job to protect it... _her_. She did not view parenting as a savory career, nor did she plan on doing much of it. But it was her job to protect her child.

And she failed. For the first time, she failed.

_Or maybe not the first time_, a voice in the back of her mind taunts.

"You never wanted a daughter. Neither of us. You just wanted a dynasty. You're selfish and warped and would do anything for a touch of power. I will not be your little princess. I will not be Ozai's dynasty. I will either be dead or I will be Fire Lord. One of them looks more plausible right now." Azula says in a voice that rasps and shakes. She does not even seem to want to expend the effort to speak to him. Zuko is both disgusted and impressed.

"I..." Ozai looks at her, brushing her hair out of her face. He is hesitating and Zuko's heart jumps into his throat. "You want me to do it. I've seen a lot of fucked up people, but you _want _me to do it."

Silence. Azula does not move. She stares him down and Zuko realizes that her powers of manipulation are impressive.

He releases her and she sinks to the floor.

For a moment, Ozai holds two fingers behind her neck. They smoke and Zuko closes his eyes. But there is no sound. No sound of an execution.

Just Azula's labored breathing.

"This isn't going to hurt you," Ozai remarks and Zuko opens his eyes. "You want death; you won't get it from me."

The siblings are separated as soon as Ozai orders the doors open. He looks at them and wonders if he could have gone wrong. Then he decides that their bond most likely comes from the supposed death of their mother. It could not be him.

He will make that right with his third child.

Azula's vengeance did not work in her favor.

Again.


	16. Freedom is an Illusion

A/N: Remember the rating/warning section on the first chapter of this? (it's okay if you don't) Well, the one incest rape scene mentioned in that author's note is in this chapter. It's near the end, and is moderately descriptive, so, heads up.

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><p>Chapter Sixteen: Freedom is an Illusion<p>

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><p>"Maybe you should stop trying to get misguided and violent revenge," Mai says the morning after the Agni Kai. Azula is recovering and about ready to snap, as no one will answer her questions. She demanded, and demanded, and demanded to see Mai, and eventually the terrified servants cracked. Somewhere in the middle of her speech about charred corpses.<p>

"Where's Ty Lee? Why does my father know about Ba Sing Se? Where's my daughter? Where's Katara?" Azula starts listing and Mai swallows.

"I can only answer that many questions at once, princess. Ty Lee is locked in a room on the other side of the palace. She looks really... banged up... and not so good but she seemed, perky, for having been tortured. If that's... a thing. She's not going to die. She's too much leverage for you."

"He tortured my girlfriend, alright, continue," Azula says, her stomach swelling with rage but her mind telling her she needs to remain calm. If she breaks down, if she snaps like she did two summers ago, she has no chance of helping them.

"Your father knows about Ba Sing Se because Zuko cracked under pressure. I was actually surprised, I was sure that it would be Ty Lee who sold us out, but, it was Zuko," Mai says calmly, the sarcasm in her voice incredibly disturbing to Azula. She discusses their friends being tortured quite cavalierly.

"He wasn't lying. Zuko isn't so bendable, though." Azula sits up, wincing at the pain. Suddenly, she realizes something from slight motions of Mai's face. She isn't miscalculating again. "He's endured more than us. He didn't look brutalized when I saw him."

"Azula, he didn't flip sides. I know you think he did but Zuko wouldn't do that. I think he just wanted it to stop for everyone or something. Look, that's behind us all." Mai waves her hand and Azula studies her for any sign of injury. All she finds is signs of a poor liar.

"You sold us out once," Azula says softly and maliciously. Mai realizes she believes _Zuko _over her _best friend_. "You don't even have bruises to point at this time."

Mai is silent. She breathes in and contemplates the benefits of honesty with Azula. The princess looks disheveled and unstable, more than Ty Lee and Katara did.

"I did it," Mai replies honestly and Azula does seem to know how to react. "Zuko's big romantic gesture was taking the blame for me."

"And yet, you're still with Katara," Azula says quietly and Mai knows she is truly angry. Princess Azula gets quiet when she is livid. Her nose turns slightly red, her eyes sparkle with a true malice and her voice becomes soft.

"Look, we can work that out on our way to Ba Sing Se," Mai says, bristling slightly.

Azula takes a deep breath. Mai has less resolve than Azula does, and perhaps some things can be forgiven. But trusting her is always a mistake. Azula does not know why she ever did.

"Twice. I forgave you the first time because you believed we could defend ourselves. And we should have been able to," Azula says, sitting close to Mai. She can see the dark circles under Azula's golden eyes and it makes her slightly queasy. "Why would you _let _other people suffer and then just immediately snap? You're not a wimp. You've felt pain before. You've caused pain to _yourself_."

"Azula," Mai says, touching her arms uncomfortably for a split second, "my mother and brother are alive. And my mother has not been good. Katara and I saw her and she was... half dead."

"So, you're angry about what I did to your family," Azula replies, rolling her eyes.

"No. Your father has been extorting me with them for months now," Mai explains and Azula's stomach twists. It is exactly the kind of thing her father would do. "I've been through a lot. I've had more to worry about than the fact that two people are in love with me and I can't choose. Like jumping through hoops and spying and _worse_."

"You've told him things I've said to you." Azula is balanced on her knees now, looking like a cat about to pounce. Mai remains steely; Azula will not kill an ally when she has so few.

"I only answer when directly asked. I didn't _want _any of this," Mai says and Azula leans back.

Azula prioritizes and decides that her father manipulating Mai is less worrisome than the fate of her vengeance, daughter, whatever it is.

"Continue," Azula says finally, her fingers twitching slightly.

"Your daughter is in a position you might not be happy about."

"And I'm gloriously pleased that you allowed my girlfriend to get brutally tortured and just told _everyone _our plans," Azula snarls, eyebrow twitching. Mai instinctually moves back slightly.

"Well, she's locked up tight and guarded by the royal guard or something. They look like people even we don't want to mess with. I certainly couldn't get in." Mai shrugs and Azula blinks.

She does not know how to react. She never even named the child, save for a joke with Katara, and she never intended to do more with it than spite her father, but she feels that she failed. She was supposed to protect her and couldn't. It perturbs her, although she has more important things to worry about.

"We have to get her out before we leave," Azula demands with severity and conviction.

"I don't know if we can. We'll try. Katara escaped two days ago. She's hiding out in this old apartment my dad used for things I hate him for," Mai says and Azula raises an eyebrow. She did not have this much faith in her allies.

"Katara is free. Zuko is attainable. Korra?"

"With Katara."

"Was she in prison?"

"No, she wound up at the same school as my brother. It was actually the most fortunate thing that's happened to us in a long time," Mai says with a shrug. "So, I think we got her before she was too indoctrinated."

"When do we leave?" Azula asks quietly, glancing around for anyone who could be listening.

"I don't think I can say."

"Oh, now your lips are sealed."

"It's not safe to talk about here. Just don't worry. We'll come for you when it's time," Mai says, standing up and leaving Azula alone.

She sits on her bed and wonders what she is supposed to do. Her alliance is strong but Ba Sing Se is a ridiculous dream. Maybe she should have taken her father's offer. She should have waited and waited... and waited. And suffered. But it would be easier than somehow raising an army and defeating Fire Lord Ozai, the man who killed the Avatar.

Azula breaks out of her room within a day of Mai's visit. She has friends in the palace and they are quite malleable. The people will not be a problem; those father has his claws in will be harder to get out of the way. But now she needs to find Ty Lee and do _something_. Azula has gone through pain, nearly been killed, but she wasn't tortured.

She should have protected her too.

Agni, life was easier when she only cared about herself.

Sneaking through the palace is simple for her. She lived as a shadow for years and now she relies on her old skills. It is always mostly empty, even with the influx of soldiers. But they are not paid enough to check behind every curtain and every hallway for the slender form of a teenage girl.

Azula opens door after door. She tries to be quiet and not frantic, but she is slipping. Finally, she hits the right one.

"Azula?" a choked voice, constricted with pain or emotion, says. Azula shuts the door behind her and walks to the mattress on the floor.

This may be the nicest prison ever made, with its gilded plates, exquisite murals and invisible bars, but it is still a prison. Azula sits by her, looking up at the candelabra and lighting it with a few motions of her fingers.

At first the room is blue and the sight of her broken fiancée is enough to make Azula inhale sharply through her teeth. When it fades to yellow, it looks less terrible. Her face is mostly unscathed, save for remnants of a black eye.

It is her body that Azula runs her fingers across and wishes she were still in the Water Tribe so it could be healed instantly. Some of the wounds are cauterized shoddily and the cloth and sticks around her fingers suggest they were smashed.

"And Zuko and Mai were just fine. It was her who sold us out," Azula says quickly before lips meet hers. She sinks into the kiss and feels at rest for the first time in a long time.

"It's okay," Ty Lee says, grimacing. "I've fallen from incredible heights and snapped bones with stuck landings. It was scary but I've been pretty banged up before."

"Your optimism is so sickening. Kiss me again," Azula demands and Ty Lee complies. They sink into each other on the old mattress.

Azula presses her lips against Ty Lee and she winces. Azula pulls back slightly, still aroused but also repulsed by what has been done to her.

"Where does it hurt?" Azula asks softly and Ty Lee is stunned by the tenderness of her words.

"Pretty much everywhere," Ty Lee says with a smile.

Azula kisses her more gently. Each bruise, each cut, each place where red hot nails were dug into skin. She pushes Ty Lee down onto her back, removing her bloodstained clothes. She does not close her eyes at what she sees, but her eyes swell with tears of rage.

"I will kill him. Not because he usurped me or stole my daughter. I will kill him because of what he did to you," Azula says, her fingers twitching close to her girlfriend's breasts but almost afraid she will hurt her more.

"That is the most romantic thing I have _ever _heard." And before Azula can decide what to do with the shattered body of her paramour, Ty Lee sits up and presses her lips against Azula's.

The vivacity between the scarred and wounded women is strange. Ty Lee tears at Azula's perfect dress and it lies mixed with the rags of a tortured prisoner, the bright red of sex against the dark red of blood. Their hands hurt in places; Azula's cleavage, Ty Lee's broken fingers. The kisses are messy and entirely too spontaneous for Azula; Ty Lee loves it.

Their bodies are both changed. Azula consists of bones and deteriorated muscle. She looks far from pregnant anymore, but what she has gone through combined with the baby inside of her has left her body weaker than the overly trained firebender Ty Lee first slept with.

Bruises against atrophy, their hands stray around each other, trying to gauge if this is a hallucination or not. Azula's tongue twists with Ty Lee's as she grins against her and tries to figure out if this is real or not. Wet, throbbing and she murmurs, "Hurt me."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Ty Lee whispers; she may be romantically involved with the princess but she still fears retribution.

"Hurt me. It's the only thing I feel," Azula murmurs, stopping the motions bringing them pleasure entirely.

Ty Lee hesitates. She runs her fingertips along Azula's clavicle. Azula's lips part ever so slightly, but she is waiting for something other than caresses. Ty Lee presses her lip to the spot where her finger swirls off of Azula's shoulder. And as it breaks, she digs her finger into the point there, cringing.

Azula shrieks at first and Ty Lee tries to stumble away. But the princess pulls her back feebly and forces their lips together.

And they tumble. And tumble. Breathless, as the pain still reverberates through Azula's body and Ty Lee's bruises are woken again by the rough touch of the princess's pursuit of pleasure.

_"Hurt me."_

As she leaves Ty Lee's prison, vowing to return with Zuko, Azula is caught. Out of her cell, out of her bedroom. She feels the arms around her and knows that they are far worse than a soldier she can lie her way away from. They are arms that have grabbed her many times, sometimes to keep her from falling out of windows or scraping a knee, others to keep her from running away.

"Why are you out?" her father demands into her ear.

"I went to go see my girlfriend. The one you had tortured." Silence. "And I _know _what you've been making Mai do. You can't hide things from me. Not for long."

"Yes, knowledge is power. But _knowledge _isn't out in the palace and able to assassinate advisors and liberate prisoners," he growls, hot breath on her neck. She breathes in and decides to be strong, because he will _never _break her again.

She is going to Ba Sing Se.

"Put me in the Boiling Rock. Go ahead. Capitol Prison?"

"You would escape. No, I'm keeping you with me at all times. I trust that I can keep you from trying anything that would ruin your chances at the throne," he says, releasing her. "Like shocking the Fire Lord with lightning."

Azula turns to face him. Her expression is hard and cold, but he shrugs it off. She will not slip away from him. _Never_.

"Your friends won't be able to come pick you up when you're constantly at my side." Pause. Azula looks surprised and Ozai suppresses a smirk. "Of course, they'll most likely leave without you. I'm sure traitors would prefer your brother for Fire Lord. They used you, Azula. They were always using you. They wanted your raw power and they wanted your rage and your eloquence and all of it so they could get what they want. They would wipe the Nation off the map with you as their beast. Or put Zuko on the throne."

"They want me to be Fire Lord," Azula says, but her voice shake slightly.

"You know that Mai's been my informant, don't you? You said so." Ozai says, walking towards his daughter. She stares at him, studying him for a lie or a clue. "She told me everything. It's all just to get Zuko onto the throne, because the Avatar isn't old enough to fight me, but you could defeat me. They'll discard you as soon as you strike me down."

"I don't think they would," Azula protests but Ozai has her.

"Why would they want _you_, who has hurt them and imprisoned them and tried to kill them, to be Fire Lord? They're telling you want you want to hear." He takes her by the arm and guides her through the halls. "I'm the only one you can trust."

Azula follows him. She does not believe him. The South Pole changed her, and she will never go back to being her father's puppet. _Never_.

Never.

"Do you want this?" father asks the first night of Azula's new captivity. She is no longer pushed aside to hide her pregnancy or her romance. He displays her like an accessory, saying he needs to watch her.

He _does _need to watch her. Because nothing will stand in her way from killing him. But not now. She is weak and her body hurts. She knows when not to cross the line, and after striking her father with lightning, she should not cross the line. Azula's strikes fiercely but she strikes at the right time.

"What is it?" Azula asks, looking at the vial. The liquid is a milky color with streaks of clear.

"Sleeping drug."

She squints at him, studying him with trained eyes. He fully intends to help her, but for his own gain. He fears that she will kill him in her sleep, but he also knows she will never sleep again after what she has been through.

If it secures his confidence in her... "Yes."

He hands it to Azula and lets her open it herself. A feigned show of trust, as his eyes are glued to her fingers. She swallows it pointedly and instantly feels a wave of nausea to rival her morning sickness. The effects are fast.

Ozai walks to her and opens her mouth with two fingers. She has the instinctual urge to knee him in the chest, but he is checking to make sure she drank it. It somewhat pleases her that he is that concerned.

"It should set in quickly. Likely you won't even have nightmares," he says calmly, as if it is an act of kindness. Azula contemplates the correct words and decides on silence.

It does set in quickly. She feels dizzy as he showers and leaves her alone in his room. Stumbling from the chair she has claimed as her own, like a place for safety in a game of tag, she stumbles to the bed and lies on her back. Her legs hang off of the mattress as she feels suffocation at first, her eyes wide, and then slowly, only darkness.

Azula wakes up without screaming. She remembers Ty Lee holding her as she would wake up in a panic. But she wakes alone in her father's bed. She feels sore and knows it is just the aftereffects of giving birth to a child, but touches her shoulders and wonders what happened to her while she was drugged. The idea of being violated in her sleep lingers in her mind even if it is unlikely.

It is sunrise, the sky painted light pink and rich orange. She steps out of bed and sees her father is already ready. She looks at him wordlessly.

"Can you walk?" he asks in such a feigned tone of kindness that she ought to hit him with lightning again.

"Yes," Azula replies sharply and he purses her lips at her indignant tone.

Azula goes through motions. People stare at her and father lies and she lies and that is how it goes. She wants to ask about her daughter but hesitates every time. The truth is, she does not want to know. It is easier to pretend she does not care if she does not even know her child's name.

She can pretend the baby does not exist. That she did not fail at the only fundamental of parenthood.

Ozai watches Azula as she does pull ups on a tree. Her weight barely displaces the leaves, but she continues. He pauses for a moment and wonders if he should be worried about her regaining strength. She is not permitted to bend, but he supposes that no matter how much she trains her muscles, she cannot overpower him by brute force.

Azula is a weapon of mass destruction. But she is also a small and slender female. No one could get close enough to her for that to be a problem with her bending hot enough to melt metal and fast reflexes. But now he has her pinned and he will not let go.

"What are you doing?" Ozai asks, examining a distasteful piece of reddish ivy that has grown up over the stone benches and statues in the courtyard.

"I'm tired of being weak," Azula responds, pulling herself over the branch in one swinging motion and wincing in pain. She hangs by her knees and does aerial sit ups. Each one seems to hurt her, but she perseveres.

Azula, the entire time, is thinking about reclaiming her throne with blood and fire.

"What's her name?" Azula asks, dangling from the tree with her back facing her father. It takes him a moment to register what she is saying.

"Kazumi," Ozai replies, startled that she asked. She has not said a word about her daughter in the week he has been monitoring her to prevent her doing anything dangerous.

"Oh," is Azula's only response.

"Did you intend to name her something else?" he asks, as if he isn't mocking her. She contemplates turning to face him but simply remains hanging from the tree.

"No, no I didn't."

Kazumi. Bred in captivity.

Azula went to a zoo once in Ba Sing Se. The Earth King told she and her friends to go have _fun _and Ty Lee dragged them to the zoo. Azula found it absolutely disgusting. But she saw this sign that said, _bred in captivity_.

Strange enough, she knew just how that animal felt.

Bred for a purpose. Never to escape or see the real world without a tight leash.

Kazumi and Azula, bred in captivity.

A week later, Katara makes preparations for the raid of the palace. They have to get in, get Azula, Zuko and Ty Lee and get out. Mai is laying out knives and counting them, as Katara has seen her do many times before. They are all so crazy, the Fire Nation Foursome.

Korra reaches for one of the knives and Katara bats her hand away.

"No, not for children," Katara hisses and Korra reaches for the knife again. "No, not for children."

Korra gives up and decides to play with fire again. Katara decides to choose her battles.

"Alright, so we do it at night. It's really easy to sneak around in there, even though Fire Lord Ozai has made it into a high security prison. I know where everybody is being held. We all, just get in and get out," Mai explains.

Katara sighs and hopes for the best. Her hands are still not working properly after what they did, and her thumb is missing the fingernail. She has not slept since what happened to her, and her jaw is decorated with bruises. Her lip split at the side and likely to scar.

And her methods of escape from the waterbending facility give her chills.

A small, precise burn is on her neck. Mai is unscathed, at least, which relieves Katara. She wants the best for her friends. And even if Mai is being indecisive, they are more than friends. Mai turns to Katara and stares at her for a moment.

Katara kisses her and it is briefly returned. Then they both feel incredibly confused, and Katara returns to watching Korra.

Night falls. Katara is twitching with anxiety. A new Team Avatar, a new goal, and all of it starts tonight. After breaking in to the Fire Nation royal palace. _Great_.

"I just want to say, if we die," Katara says softly, swallowing. "I really like you. I know maybe it was just adrenaline that pretended it was love or something but─"

Mai kisses her. Katara sinks into it, glad she was interrupted. It probably is just adrenaline, but right now she is in bliss. Mai will leave her for Zuko in the end. The war will be over and Katara will train Korra in waterbending and Azula will be Fire Lord and Mai and Zuko will get married and have little Fire Nation babies...

Katara rids herself of those thoughts and wraps one leg around Mai's waist, pushing her against the wall. Their tongues war with each other as they dig their fingers into skin. Katara's lips escape Mai's and trail down her neck, moving away from the wall with the grace and fluidity of a waterbending master.

They pull back, towards a sofa. It looks expensive but Katara falls onto her back, dragging a limp Mai on top of her. Wet and throbbing, they claw desperately at each other as if it is their last night on Earth.

If she dies, she'll go happily tonight.

The night of the break in, Zuko paces in his bedroom, in his cell. He has been in slight contact with Mai, pretending to be having sex when they're really discussing their grand escape to Ba Sing Se, it would be funny if it wasn't so dark, jumping on a mattress and moaning between shared plans.

Mai is surprisingly good at the escape plan.

As he paces, Azula is guided to her prison cell for the night. She has been on display all day, save for training that was painful but worth it. Her muscles feel much stronger, her body less limp and loose. Two weeks since her daughter was born. Two weeks she has been an exhibit her father drags around.

She sits down in the chair she has been sleeping in. He offered her the bed and she laughed in response. Tonight feels odd. Today felt odd. Azula almost thinks it will be the day of the break in, because the staff save for slaves have been dismissed for a holiday. Azula has lost track of time, but she knows which. And she knows that it has been nearly two years since she visited Ty Lee in prison.

Seventeen, she is now? Maybe sixteen. Everything is messy.

"You don't look well," her father says, shutting the door. There is no need to lock it. The slightest motion Azula makes he wakes and assumes she is attempting to escape.

"How old am I?" Azula breathes and her father laughs as he undoes his shirt. He then realizes she is genuinely asking.

"Seventeen," he says with certainty and Azula nods. "But your birthday is close. Maybe we'll do something nice for it."

Azula touches two fingers together as her father turns to change his clothes. She loosens them. Zuko, Mai and Katara better come tonight.

"Come here," he says and she does not move from her chair.

He wears a red silk robe, expensive, close to the one she wears but more masculine. She is not obeying him, despite the crown still in his hair. Hers is down around her shoulders, covering the curve of her cleavage beneath the bathrobe. The curve of his muscles beneath the robe is enough for her to rethink assaulting him.

It kills her to run instead of fight. But she will return with an _army_. And he will face her while she is at her best, and not her worst.

"I said come here," he repeats, startled that she does not obey.

"I don't want to," Azula responds airily, as if she has any power anymore.

"We don't always get what we want, little princess."

"I do."

She expects him to hit her but he laughs.

"So do I." Pause. "So come here."

Azula touches her lips and weighs her odds. If it is her last night, as she feels it will be, it cannot hurt her to let him think he has nothing to worry about. If he is foolish enough to trust in her fear of him, it will make the job of her friends much easier.

She stands up and walks to him, stepping around the impeccably made bed. He touches her wrist, her elbow, her neck. It's awkward and strange to her. Too gentle and almost hesitant, as if he does not want to harm her.

"I've hurt you, haven't I?" he asks and Azula is confused. Doubtful and baffled. "I mean, you hurt me badly with that lightning outburst, but I've hurt you. You look angry. Your eyes, at least. Maybe I should rethink our relationship."

Azula hesitates. She does not believe a word as he kisses her neck. She bites the inside of her cheek. Despite his _almost _apologetic words, he pushes her down onto the bed. Her back hits it with startling force. She gasps in surprise but manages not to scream. She won't give him that.

He undoes her bathrobe and beneath is a tight dress covering her abdomen. He did not expect it, but it does not deter him. He is on his knees on the bed before Azula can turn to face him, pulling her up to almost his level.

His hand slips behind her neck as she is closer, and closer, pulled by him and not resisting. She will come back with an army. She will take the throne with blood and fire. She is ripped from her visions of an invasion of Caldera headed by her, burning buildings in blazes of blue eating up red and grey, when his nails dig into her breasts. Wince.

She does not want to be _felt_. She closes her eyes as his lips touch her neck again; she has never felt so passionately about her plan. Not about taking Ba Sing Se, not about Sozin's Comet... her plan to overthrow her father ─ reverie again broken.

Her clothes are off entirely; she managed to not notice it with her mind locked elsewhere. He slips her onto her back, not using nearly as much force as he was before. He touches his tongue to her skin and she violently scratches his shoulder with her nails.

Wrong move. Reckless. Azula knows better than to attack when she is naked and vulnerable. Especially not attacking someone at least twice her size.

He pins her down by her wrists and she can feel him holding back her attacks. As if she couldn't breathe fire that would burn him. But he would block it. Or something. Or...

_She will kill him. She will strangle him._

She is interrupted from her dream by him thrusting inside of her. Rush of pain. Closes her eyes. Blood and fire.`

_Crack, crack, crack. _She looks at him so smugly above her and imagines him on his knees begging for his life and his neck bones cracking under her fingers.

His hands clamp on her neck after pinning her down to his satisfaction. Pressing as she gasps. She can feel his fingers digging into her neck, into her throat. It is disturbingly skilled in that she finds she can breathe just enough to not faint, but be suffocating forcefully enough to feel abject terror.

_They will talk about her in every history book. She conquered Ba Sing Se and she_─

He thrusts too hard and her head hits the headboard of the bed. She breathes in through her teeth as he does not stop. The breath is cut oddly and sticks in her throat as his thumbs dig into her neck. She has been here before; it does not matter to either of them. He releases her neck and she falls limp. Relieved, although it's far from over.

_They will talk about her in every history book. She conquered Ba Sing Se and she claimed the throne during Sozin's Comet. And then, when she knew what must happen she_ ─

"Wrap your legs around my back," his voice interrupts.

She does. It hurts. She does not care anymore.

_They will talk about her in every history book. She conquered Ba Sing Se and she claimed the throne during Sozin's Comet. And then, when she knew what must happen she_ _will kill the usurper and end a century long war._

It ends after an eternity.

The break in goes as Mai planned. A window she used to sneak through to see Zuko still has the latch broken. The only reason they did not use it before was because they didn't have a plan.

They all are going together.

Ty Lee follows Katara and Mai to get Zuko. He comes quickly and quietly and they head towards the riskiest part of their mission, Azula's room. Which is incredibly close to the Fire Lord's room, and also in a tucked away part of the palace that is difficult to escape from easily.

But they go and Mai unlocks Azula's door with her same sharp lockpick. Her room is empty. The bed is made and it feels slightly... cold.

"Where is she? Zuko, where is she?" Ty Lee hisses, her eyes bulging. "She was just with me."

"We'll just have to find out," Zuko says, clearing his mind.

"I think Ty Lee is..." Mai murmurs as Zuko opens his mouth to voice his plan. She has a night-guard by the neck, pressed against the wall.

"Do you want me to put my thumb into your shoulder, because that will kill you. Silently. No one is coming to help you. Where is Azula?" she says with a terrifying conviction. Ty Lee can be scary when she wants to be and Katara is baffled by the sight.

"She's not allowed out of the Fire Lord's sight. He decided that was the-the safest place for her after she escaped her cell-bedroom," the man stammers and Ty Lee lets him drop to the ground. His limbs are useless and she gives him a look that keeps him from screaming.

"I think we should leave without her," Katara says, betraying her feelings. "It's been months anyway. She's probably all Fire Nation again."

"She hit my father with lightning. I'll go get her," Zuko says and Mai opens her mouth to protest. Katara silences her with a single glance. "You guys go towards the exit and wait for me there. I'll try to get her out quietly."

"You're both going to die," Mai sighs, but she grabs Katara and Ty Lee and guides them towards the end of the hall. Prepared for a fight, they can only wait. Ty Lee keeps bouncing, Katara is glassy-eyed and Mai actually believes that Zuko can do it.

Zuko slips down the hall like he did many times as a child. His footsteps used to be so heavy that his mother affectionately called him "leaps and bounds" but years as a fugitive have made him far stealthier. He presses his ear against the door and hears absolute silence.

Biting his lip, he finds the door unlocked, and invites himself inside.

It's dark, one candle in the corner the only light. Zuko does not see her immediately, and realizes that if she is not here and he just walked into his father's bedroom, he is probably going to be executed.

A hand grabs his wrist and then another hand clamps over his mouth as he is about to scream.

Zuko tries to fight against the hand over his mouth, but it is too slender to be his father's. Sharp nails graze against his cheek.

"Let's go," whispers a spine-chilling voice in his ear. "_Now_. He's in the shower."

Zuko follows Azula out, shutting the door quietly behind. She pulls him, although he can take care of himself. He notices the bruises on her neck, red marks on the top of her breasts, and her disheveled appearance, but her eyes have more passion in them than he has ever seen. She is going to take the country, and Zuko knows it.

"How did you find me?" Zuko asks Azula as they reach Mai, Katara and Ty Lee.

"You just came barging in. I was sleeping on a chair and you woke me."

"You sleep lightly," Zuko grumbles and Azula smirks.

"Let's leave," Mai declares as Ty Lee throws herself onto Azula like only a hormonal teenager could. Their lips lock and Katara cringes in discomfort. "Let's leave _now_. You two can make-out later."

"We have to get her," Azula says, Ty Lee holding her hand and silently vowing never to let go.

Katara has just pried open the window that is in a blind spot for the guards. Mai used it to sneak in to see Zuko, years ago.

"Who?" Katara asks as Mai is already halfway out.

Zuko interrupts with, "My sister."

"Don't call her that," Azula says fiercely but Zuko just walks towards the window and helps Mai down.

"Azula, we have to go. We can't get her. It's fine. She'll be fine," Ty Lee says tenderly and Azula yanks her hand away.

"I'm not leaving her with him." She starts running towards the hall where her daughter is held but something collides with her back, another, and another and she collapses to the floor.

"I had to, Azula. I'm sorry." Ty Lee grabs her and takes her through the window, paralyzed and shocked.

Katara leaps out last, sealing the window shut.

Now they move for Ba Sing Se.

* * *

><p>AN: So, lots of things have been left out of everyone's captivity. Also the formulation of the escape plan. The reasoning behind Ozai having them tortured. Literally many things were left out. Those are intended to be revealed in later chapters (19 - 25). I simply couldn't fit all that happened in a streamlined few chapters. But I think I don't leave any loose ends untied later. I think.


	17. Campfires in the Night

**Act Two: Like the Phoenix She Rises**

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><p>Chapter Seventeen: Campfires in the Night<p>

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><p>Three days later, all of the alliance still frazzled from the adrenaline of an escape from the Fire Lord's palace, Azula gets them a ship and a morally questionable crew. Apparently they played politics as much as they played casino games. And now they set off for the Earth Kingdom.<p>

"Zuko, what was that about Azula's kid? We left her, didn't we?" Katara asks as they settle in their room on the ship.

Azula's influence is quite impressive, Katara has to admit. She procured and commandeered a ship and crew for them with a few contacts she developed in her joint imprisonment with Ty Lee. But she couldn't escape the palace.

Mai is in the other room with Azula and Ty Lee, and the conditions are relatively cramped. They have to hide as a merchant ship, and they are shoved into makeshift beds where small cargo would usually be placed.

It is a one way trip to the coast, some dock Katara cannot remember the name of. And then they have to find their own way to Ba Sing Se. Just like every other person scorned by the Fire Nation wants to do. To join the fight that is far more impressive than the old one.

Iroh versus the more desperate Ozai and while Azula was Fire Lord is more interesting than scattered Earth Kingdom generals against relaxed Ozai or Azulon. Every move and battle is pointed and deeply contemplated. And General Iroh and the Order of the White Lotus are the only people who are keeping those free from the Fire Nation alive.

Who wouldn't want to go to Ba Sing Se?

"Azula is my sister," Zuko says, trying to make his bed more comfortable.

"No. Who did we leave?" Katara inquires, sounding concerned for a stranger. Classic Katara, of course, Zuko notes in frustration.

"She's a baby. It's not like anything bad is going to happen to her," Zuko says sharply and Korra stirs in her sleep. Katara shushes her and looks up at Zuko again.

"So we left Azula's baby in the hands of Fire Lord Ozai? That wasn't the best move," Katara sighs, not inquiring further about Zuko's use of the word _sister_.

"We're going to be back soon," Zuko says honestly and Katara frowns.

They go to sleep in silence, Katara regretting not running with Azula.

Nobody left behind.

Katara goes to sleep as she does every night since her escape, under her breath repeating, _"I am not Hama... I am not Hama... I am not Hama..."_

It is the first night of what will be nine weeks of travel or more.

Four days later, Azula, Ty Lee and Mai sit around the campfire alone. Katara is gathering water and Zuko is setting up one of two tents. That they will be sharing. Azula is finding her third trip into the Earth Kingdom to be her most unpleasant. And although she has never felt guilt in her life, it is consuming her and distracting her from the task at hand.

She can only tell herself that she will take the throne with blood and fire.

"Mai, did you tell Ty Lee about how you let her get tortured and had Zuko take the blame?" Azula says sweetly and Mai's face moves slightly. "Did you?"

Ty Lee squirms uncomfortably. She looks at the bruises and half healed cuts on her body. That make her feel hideous, that make her glad she hooked Azula before she became this. That make her understand Azula's nightmares more than she ever used to.

"You already snitched once," Ty Lee says, more anger in her words than she thought she had. Mai grits her teeth.

"I had to do it," Mai says in a low voice. She looks ready to burst or combust, the pent up emotion about to spill from her. "Do you want to know what happened to me as soon as I was taken to the Fire Nation?"

"I think you got yourself caught," Azula remarks coldly.

"I didn't resist as much as I should've. I wanted out and I thought it would be preferable. I was wrong," Mai says quickly, addressing Azula's paranoia immediately to cut it off. "When I arrived, I was tortured for days. I told him about you and Zuko being at the Water Tribe, but he insisted on more. Not that he tortured me himself; the Fire Lord has people for that."

"As my girlfriend has found out, thanks to you," Azula says snidely and Mai's nostrils flare.

"By the end of the third week, they had nothing from me. I barely even moved my face. And so they took me to your father," Mai says, the words sounding like they hurt her tongue to say them. "He didn't drive steel blades into me. Or hit me. He simply told me what he would do to my mother and brother if I didn't work for him."

"I understand that," Ty Lee says softly, although she does not make eye contact with Mai. "You were protecting them."

"You didn't see my mother. Katara and I did." Mai is silent for a moment. Azula purses her lips and tries not to be noticeable. It _is _her fault that Mai's father is dead. "If it puts it in perspective, I was extorted for every second you guys were in the Fire Nation."

"So all our conversations were relayed to my father," Azula says in a high, icy voice. Mai clenches her fists and Ty Lee prepares herself to strike them if they start fighting.

Mai is silent for a moment, as if thinking carefully.

"I was sleeping with your father since before the fleets even arrived at the South Pole."

Azula moves for the first blow and Ty Lee catches her arm.

"Don't say that about him!" Azula shrieks and it makes no sense to any of them. Ty Lee pulls her and holds Azula against her body.

"No, I'll say what I want. He hurt you and Zuko and Katara and Ty Lee and forced me to have sex with him for months. There's a reason I support you and your quest to kill him. I used to not care who was in charge of the Fire Nation." Silence. "I changed my mind."

Azula pauses, breathing in slowly. She looks incredibly dizzy, angry, in disbelief. Ty Lee holds her tightly for the protection of all three of them, but guises it as compassion.

"Well then," Azula says slowly, breaking free of Ty Lee, "I suppose we'll have to make him pay for his crimes. _Inch _by _inch_."

"I agree," Mai says, smiling faintly. The wickedness shared in their eyes is that of women scorned, and Ty Lee picks up a stick and turns over wood in the fire pointlessly.

Another night, another fire. Zuko and Azula are alone together for the first time since their escape. Tending to the flames as another day passes of agonizing walking. They should have stolen some mongoose dragons or called for Appa or something.

Azula's legs hurt. Her body aches from so little, and she wants to expend her energy training to become strong enough to defeat Ozai again. She _almost _beat him while she was half-starved, sick and two days after giving birth, and she knows if she can screw her head on straight, she can do what they need her to.

But she cannot train when all her energy goes in to walking for miles every day.

"I want to talk to you about dinner."

"You mean the horrifically disgusting fish Katara caught?" Azula says dryly, pretending she does not know what dinner he is referring to.

"Dinner with our father," Zuko says and Azula cannot pretend any longer. She takes a deep breath.

"The things I said were... crude. I wasn't well."

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing. He just stole my childhood and usurped me as Fire Lord," Azula says with a shrug.

The stains on the bed were nothing. The bruises on her throat were nothing. The blood she cleaned herself were nothing.

It didn't exist. That was what she was told. It couldn't exist to anyone but two people.

"You can tell me," Zuko prods and the fire is abruptly blue. But it fizzles back to orange as soon as Azula catches herself.

"So you can do what? Treat me like I'm fragile or fucked up? Or, maybe you'll try to be the daring hero again. None of that matters. It didn't affect me," Azula says sharply, her tongue barbed. The last part is a lie and Azula knows it.

But Zuko will not stand down. The moments before he falls asleep are always haunted by the bizarre dinner in which Azula referred to her child as their sister, and the conversation twisted into the great reveal of a sick secret.

"You're far from fragile. I mean, I consider you fucked up, as most would, but you're not fragile," Zuko says as Azula breathes in. The fire is blue again as she controls it and tries to numb her mind. Zuko hopes no one sees it and comes running. "Please tell me."

"I told you that it was nothing. I'm not lying," Azula says, the fire contorting and raging. Wood cracks loudly, like a bolt of lightning, when the heat is too much for it.

"You don't have to tell me about it. Is she our sister?" Zuko asks and Azula pauses. The fire is calm again, the blow glow eerie in the dark night.

"Yes," Azula says earnestly. She rubs her arms in the sudden cold. The fire is orange and dying now, most of the kindling and firewood incinerated. "She's my sister and my daughter. Now stop asking questions like that before you wind up with your tongue cut out or something."

Another fire. Katara has just put Korra to sleep, who has insisted to cling onto Azula. Clearly, her Avatar instincts have forgotten being shocked to death with lightning. But Katara does not have the energy for Korra, and, honestly, Katara is deeply wounded about leaving Azula's baby behind.

Putting Korra next to the princess makes her feel slightly better for her despicable decision.

During this fire, Katara and Mai are alone together as the others are asleep. Katara stares at the flame, how it crackles and how it broils tomorrow's water. It bubbles like the lake that Katara crossed with Mai. The adrenaline surged through their veins as Katara had never been more powerful.

"It was just the action," Katara says and Mai glances up.

"Just the action?" Mai asks, squinting at her in the dim firelight. The smoke burns both of their eyes. The scent of the wood is surprisingly pleasant, the crackling quiet enough to not draw any attention to their little group.

"Adrenaline just pretends it's love sometimes," Katara says softly and Mai can only nod.

"Is this because I sold you out?" Mai asks with a sigh.

"No. It's because we're only going to hurt each other," Katara replies. "It's been months. I mean, I was glad when you broke me out of prison. But it had been months. For _four _months we were imprisoned. Tormented. Brutalized. Raped. I mean... do you think people can be the same after that?"

"I'm fine," Mai says softly. She does not know if it is a lie or not.

Her captivity was longer but she had far more freedom once Ozai decided she was fully indoctrinated by the Fire Nation again. Free to one day defy him, which he did not expect. Katara hasn't talked about what happened to her, but her big blue eyes have a force and passion in them that only surfaces when she is at an emotional high.

Rage. A rage that Katara feels for injustice. But she is only going to hurt herself with her passion if her rage is never ending.

Mai whispers, "I was always surprised at how much you _feel_. I mean, right now you're not a crying mess or anything. You just have this look like your emotions will propel you to ending the war."

"I got good at channeling my pain since I realized that traveling the world with the Avatar was darker than I imagined," Katara says, picking up kindling and tossing it into the fire. It cracks and Mai closes her eyes as red embers float in the night sky.

"I just don't... I just don't." Mai shrugs and Katara looks at her for a moment. "The light in your eyes is a lot healthier than Azula, or Ty Lee or... Zuko."

Katara purses her lips and looked at the fire.

"Yes, Azula is crazier than she was during the comet, Ty Lee is trying to cover up her trauma but only biting herself with it, Zuko is angry again, angry like he hasn't been in a long time. But you're silent. Does it eat you up at night? When I think about it or have nightmares about it, I just visualize everything I'll do to make sure it never happens to anyone else ever again."

Mai raises an eyebrow. "Your selflessness is incredibly weird." She sighs.

"Four," Katara says feebly.

"What?"

"Fourth sigh. I don't think you're getting a prize."

They smirk at each other and Katara's eyes swell with tears. She slips forward and buries her face in Mai's shoulder. She rubs Katara's back awkwardly, soft hands against stolen Fire Nation clothes and Katara's dark skin. Mai closes her eyes and knows that she will not show her pain.

She will never show her pain. But she does not want Katara to hurt.

"We've been through so much," Katara sobs, clinging tightly to Mai. "I'm trying to stay strong and remember our goal but... it's getting hard."

"I know," Mai says, holding Katara close to her. She feels immensely uncomfortable consoling someone, but Katara feels nice in her arms. "We're all pretty scarred, I think."

"But I have to protect them."

"You can't save everybody, Katara," Mai says as Katara pulls away from her slowly. "What happened to you in prison?"

Katara just shakes her head. "If I talk about it, it's real."

Mai chews on the inside of her cheek. It is her fault. Entirely her fault. Why would she do this? Why would she do this to her friends? Her family is probably already dead now and it was entirely a waste. Everything she suffered through is nothing compared to living with the fact that she made other people suffer far worse.

She watched Azula waste away, stopped visiting Katara because it hurt too much to look at the prison conditions invented by Fire Lord Azulon, never wanted to face Zuko because he was still in love with her, she let Ty Lee get tortured and...

"It's not your fault," Katara says, as Zuko once said in the Southern Water Tribe. Mai thought she hated it there, but it was the happiest she had ever been in her life.

"Yeah. Yeah, Katara, it is."

Mai gets up and walks into she and her two old friends' tent. Katara stares at the fire and feels it burn her wide cobalt eyes. _No_. It's nobody's fault but the Fire Nation. But Fire Lord Ozai's.

Katara is awake for the entire night. Every crack of a branch, everything, unnerves her as she envisions shadows she never saw before. They have been consumed by fire and all they have to live for is a dead dream.

In the morning, Ty Lee walks out of her tent at nearly the same time as Zuko. She rubs her eyes, looking so... pleasant. The marks on her body have yet to fade, the shaking in her hands prominent, but she smiles. Katara _knows _that it is fake, but she cannot help but envy the positivity.

Zuko looks more miserable than usual. Azula just doesn't wake up unless they are travelling.

Mai floats. She always kind of did.

And Katara watches. She was always the caretaker, always the mother. These four Fire Nation traitors were like her children, and her best friends. But now they are all broken and shattered, and Katara can do nothing.

Katara purses her lips with a sharp realization. She gets up from the fire as Zuko tries to make it hot enough to make breakfast, Ty Lee doing yoga as if the world isn't fucked. The waterbender walks into their tent and finds Azula and Mai in an embrace. Not sexual, not intentional. It brings a flicker of a smile to Katara's lips for a moment. Korra is clinging to Azula's hair, petting it as the princess sleeps.

The waterbender, picks the Avatar up slowly and pats her in the direction of Zuko and Ty Lee.

Katara sits down beside both of them and feels creepy for watching them sleep. Waking them would be a crime; they do not look like they are tossing and turning as Zuko and Katara always do.

Azula wakes first. Katara watches a moment of realization in her eyes, and then a displeased twitch of her lower lip.

"What are you doing in here, peasant?" Azula asks softly, little intent behind her words.

"I wanted to talk to you and Mai," Katara says and Azula shrugs.

She shakes Mai's arm and Mai shoots up, gasping.

"Wasn't that hard to wake us. You didn't have to sit there creepily," Azula sighs haughtily.

Katara takes a deep breath. "We need to get our heads on straight before we get to Ba Sing Se. We need to dive into an invasion and... we're all..."

"Horribly traumatized," Azula says with a pointed yawn. "It's not that difficult to deal with. I mean, it consumes your entire life, but you get used to the crazy eventually."

Azula gets up to leave the tent and Katara pulls her back. The look on the princess's face is enough to kill, but she sits down as Katara gestures for her to do.

"You two are the best bet for me. Zuko... he still hasn't sorted his emotions out. Ty Lee is oblivious and we'd all like to leave her that way. Azula, you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. And, Mai, you're more needed than you think you are."

"Is this going to be an emotional speech?" Azula asks wryly and Katara frowns. "We'll keep _hope alive _in our hearts. Just relax."

"I'm just... I just don't know if right now we're exactly ready to march directly into the Fire Nation. Or even get to Ba Sing Se for that matter. I think our group is going to crack any moment," Katara says, hoping her words are not lost on them. They probably are, but it is worth a try.

"I don't see anything wrong with anyone," Azula replies sharply, pushing herself out of the tent and walking away. She disappears into the woods to train endlessly, a habit Katara finds baffling but also explanatory.

"I sure do," Mai says as they watch Azula walk away through the open tent flap. "We're going to burst at any second. I can feel it too."

"Ba Sing Se is eight weeks away walking. I don't know what we're supposed to do," Katara sighs and Mai frowns.

"Group therapy?" she offers sarcastically and Katara rolls her eyes. _Impossible_. She does not know what she saw in Mai. "I'll help you. I know what's at stake. I'll talk to Azula and Ty Lee, you talk to Zuko."

"Why am I talking to Zuko?" Katara asks, raising an eyebrow. "He's your boyfriend."

"Not anymore," Mai sighs and steps out of the tent. "Next camp I'll tackle them. I mean, talking about our feelings isn't exactly... what we do. But I can probably pry it out of them if I try."

Katara grimaces and takes a deep breath. She hopes this goes well.

Another campfire, this one is seven miles away from where they last were. They are making barely any progress and no one seems to care. Distant eyes, glassy, halfhearted conversation that fizzles out. Katara watches them and fights the urge to cry.

Never has she wanted to hurt someone as much as Fire Lord Ozai. Not the man who killed her mother. Not Zuko when he betrayed her at Ba Sing Se. Nobody. She has never felt such vitriol for a person in her life.

"You should channel that anger," whispers someone over her shoulder and Katara jumps, sucking in air in shock.

"Don't sneak up on people like that," Katara breathes, her hand on her racing heart. Azula moves away from Katara's neck and sits down beside her. Katara planned for Mai to attempt Azula, but it seems to be that Katara will.

"You're absolutely livid and you should channel it into this. All that blood and fire I talked about... just replace it with, uh, blood and tidal waves? I don't know. You get the point," Azula says, attempting to get a rock out of her shoe. Maybe she is just trying to avoid eye contact with Katara.

"I'm sorry about your daughter," Katara says and Azula just shrugs.

"It isn't like I met her," Azula says coldly. The words are rehearsed, even if they sound real. Katara may not be able to distinguish lies with her, but she can tell when it's just a blatant mask. "Once he's dead it won't matter. See, _anger channeling_. He stole everything from me and instead of breaking down or gritting my teeth until they grind to dust, like you've been, I just know it will give me all the more force when we win."

She sounds calm, icy. Cold fire, Azula is. Control.

"I haven't known you for long," Katara says and Azula chews on the inside of her cheek. If Katara knew her at all she would know not to _ask Azula about her feelings_, "but you people... I trust you three."

"Famous last words," Azula says with a smirk. Katara hesitates for a moment before laughing. "No one here is _fine_. We're never going to be the same. _You're _never going to be the same. But you reach a point where you can manage it."

Azula disappears as quietly and suddenly as she came.

Another campfire. Mai decides to make her first try at getting Azula and Ty Lee to open up. They are sitting together by the flames, whispering to each other. It has become almost annoying, the couple holding hands and wandering off and talking under their breath. Mai supposes they have earned it after all they went through, but it still is only a reminder that she will have to choose between Katara and Zuko eventually.

"I want to talk to you two," Mai says, clearing her throat. Azula perks up as Ty Lee remains curled half on her lap.

"It's your apology, is it?" Azula says with a derisive snort.

"I _know _that it's my fault. Don't think that I don't, Azula." Mai's eyes flash, perhaps from the fire or perhaps from anger. If it is anger, she is angry at herself, not her friends.

"Tell me about what it was like to know your friends were tortured before you just confessed to avoid the blow," Azula says, slowly standing up. Ty Lee tugs at her feebly but it is futile.

Mai pauses. She looks unwilling to speak, therefore, Azula is startled when she does.

Mai gestures to Ty Lee as she says, "I could hear them torturing her. I could hear her screaming." Mai walks towards Azula and the princess does not even flinch; she barely breathes. "I still hear her screaming."

Ty Lee chews on her fingernail, ripping off a chunk.

"So it scared you to hear her in pain? You just wanted to give up before they did it to you?" Azula laughs hollowly and Mai fights the urge to punch her. "If I heard her screaming─"

"If you heard her screaming you would have burned the place down. I know. There were other people too. I didn't know any of them. But they made sure I knew it was her because I love her. I didn't say what I said to get out of being tortured. They would have killed her. They would have tortured Zuko ─ they _did _torture Zuko. And they did it to him in my name." Mai hesitates. She does not seem to want to continue.

"Go on. So your tattling saved her from being killed? She wouldn't be killed. She was leverage for me."

"You think your father still cared about you at that point?" Mai snaps, clenching her fists. Azula holds her tongue. "You gave him exactly what he needed to waste as many lives as you possibly could. You should've taken his offer to be rid of that baby."

"I didn't waste lives. I wouldn't. I would've done anything to make sure you all were fine." Azula advances further and in response, Mai steps towards her. Ty Lee stops biting her nails and prepares herself to intervene.

"As soon as he claimed your baby as his heir, he could do whatever he wanted with Ty Lee, or Zuko or me. Because he could hold that over your head. You aren't his only chance anymore, Azula. He doesn't need you and that means he doesn't need any of us. That was the message of the torture," Mai snarls and Azula's eyes blossom with tears. The fire reflects in the water she is trying to blink out of her eyes.

"That wasn't..." Azula cannot even finish.

"It was. She was meant to be a casualty. I stopped it. And, guess what, now my mother and brother are probably dead. Probably not even burned, just left out to rot. There was a lot more to it than you could see," Mai says, now close enough to feel Azula's breath on her skin.

Azula turns away. She walks towards the woods before anyone could see her burst into tears.

Two days later, Mai sits down with her friends as Katara wanted to her. It is another campfire. They are still very far from Ba Sing Se and people are starting to give up hope. They just walk blindly, avoiding towns to the best of their ability. Katara is the only one who has truly done this before. She and Mai's excursion was faster and easier with Mai's papers. But with Princess Azula in tow and bounties worth the price of small islands on each of their heads, it probably isn't going to work this time.

"It's so cold here. I almost miss the palace. At least it was warm," Ty Lee whines, rubbing her arms.

"A noblewoman would give the lady her blanket," Mai remarks to Azula, who is wrapped in a sleeping bag, lying beside the fire.

"She can come share it with me," Azula replies begrudgingly and Ty Lee shakes her head. "Why not?"

"You're kind of dangerously close to the flames," Mai says. "There are black marks on the sleeping bag right now."

"Fine," Azula says sharply, haughtily indignant. She sits up, pushes herself away from the comforting flames and hops in her sleeping bag over to Ty Lee, who is sitting on a rock by the fire. "We lived at the South Pole; I can't believe you're _that _cold."

Ty Lee pulls herself into Azula's sleeping bag and wraps her arms around her. Azula's mocking lips fade to worried lips when she feels the marks and scars on Ty Lee's skin. The rage is a bile inside of her as she briefly closes her eyes and imagines herself strangling her father.

"How are you two doing?" Mai asks awkwardly. Talking about their feelings isn't exactly the norm. She does not know about Katara's old friends, but amongst Azula and Ty Lee, _feelings_ don't exist.

"Perfectly fine. Why wouldn't we be perfectly fine?" Azula asks, forcing a smile. Ty Lee pushes the sides of her lips down. They kiss and Mai shakes her head with a sigh.

"We need to talk about what happened to us," Mai says and Azula purses her lips. Ty Lee forms an expression of surprise. "Katara told me to, okay? But I actually agree with her. Our group is going to burst if we don't do _something _about the aftershocks from all those months."

"I had it perfectly fine. Ty Lee was alright until you got her tortured. And all she has is a few nightmares and scars. We had a blissful few months," Azula says and Ty Lee frowns, her eyes glittering with tears.

"Azula, please be honest," Ty Lee says and Azula's eyebrows shoot up. She looks like she would push Ty Lee to the ground if they weren't wrapped in the same sleeping bag. "What went on was so fucked up and I think Mai is right."

"Well why don't we get Zuko and have a reprisal of Ember Island," Azula snarls, looking defensive. But Mai does not relent, and neither does Ty Lee.

"You're not in the state to fight Ozai now," Mai says and Azula purses her lips. "None of us are."

"You were forced to give speeches that were lies. Your father made you his puppet. And you were locked up and..." Ty Lee trails off as Azula just looks hollow and steely. She has internalized pain for so long that she no longer can feel it. "He made you execute your followers and he stole your daughter from you."

"It isn't as if he tortured me or something," Azula says and Ty Lee looks pained. Mai's face is blank but she is hiding internal screaming and sobbing behind her flat expression. "I wish I had killed him earlier. I tried to fight him but I was too weak then."

"You wouldn't qualify what he did to you as torture?" Mai asks, edging closer to her best friends. She has almost cracked. "He didn't have to be ripping out your fingernails and driving hot metal into your skin to be torturing you."

"He extorted _you_. It isn't as if you suffered. Would you compare being a spy to being brutalized like Zuko in prison? You left your little girlfriend and boyfriend in their inhuman prisons as you pranced around Caldera with liberty. Even I was less free than you. I was confined to one room," Azula says, tearing open the sleeping bag with a finger of blue flame.

"I wouldn't compare it to you. Any of you," Mai says, standing up. She and Azula are not close, but directly against each other.

The charred sleeping bag drops around Ty Lee, resting on her ankles. She looks between them and knows it will break out in a fight.

"I trusted him. I justified everything he did to me somehow. But I'm over that. I'm ready to fight and you can't get me to sob about my feelings. I'm better than that." Pause. "You think I still trust either of you? You'd be more deluded than me."

And Azula is gone. She walks into the forest, towards the river they have been following towards Full Moon Bay. Ty Lee's lips tremble but she holds back her tears. Mai gazes after Azula, wishing she could have said something different.

"She trusts us," Ty Lee says feebly.

Mai laughs a hollow laugh.

Trust is for fools.

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><p>AN: I'm sorry this is a day late, yesterday I went to see _Mockingjay_ for the third time, then out to dinner, then had a impromptu sleepover at my friend's house and wasn't able to update until I got home today. Side note: _Mockingjay _is super good... I've seen it three times and want to see it again.

I author's note to you to inform you of a change in updates. Chapters 18 - 25 are about half the length to three quarters of the length of the past chapters, so I'm updating four times a week instead of two times a week for the next two weeks. I might maintain that schedule when we're back to 6k word chapters, but for now just the next two weeks.

Also, the next chapter is solely fluff. To make up for the depressingness.


	18. Islanded in a Stream of Stars

A/N: Welcome to a fluffy chapter. Romance, lemons, and friendship and stuff. There are some dark tones to it, because I didn't sacrifice the continuity of the story, but it is significantly lighter than other stuff. The next six chapters are pretty dark before things lighten up again, so here is some unadulterated fluffiness.

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><p>Chapter Eighteen: Islanded in a Stream of Stars<p>

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><p>The walk is endless. As the group trudges towards the far off Ba Sing Se, Katara holding Korra, their eyes are glassy with memory. No one talks. Ty Lee clings on to Azula like teenage lovers, which they suppose they are. But none of them feel like children or teenagers anymore.<p>

They have aged a thousand years in four months.

And the aftershocks of memories and pain remain.

But they are not defeated. They could not be defeated so easily by Ozai and the Fire Nation. As they come across a beautiful scene, the six traveler's stop. A waterfall pours down into a beautiful lake with interconnecting streams pouring downhill. Katara runs to the water instantly, Korra's head bonking against her chest, and she lifts some of it into her hands.

It is pure and cool.

"We _have _to stop here. There is no way we can't stop here!" Katara exclaims and the other members of the group exchange glances. She does have a point; it seems like a pleasant place to take a break.

Katara sits with Korra, showing her a few waterbending moves that she eagerly imitates. Mai stares at the water, half undressed and debating whether she wants to get in or not. Zuko is swimming and shouting at Mai just to jump, but all she does is shift her weight between either foot. Azula and Ty Lee are lying in the grass, staring at the sky for some reason.

"Mai, jump in. It's not even that cold," Zuko says, splashing the water. He then splashes it at her and she wraps her arms around herself, hopping out of the way.

"No," Mai insists, but she still keeps gazing at the lake. It is crystalline. The way it sparkles is enticing, but Mai genuinely does not like being wet. "I can't do it."

And before Mai can protest again, she is engulfed in a wave that drags her into a the water. Azula cackles in the distance as Katara grins.

"I hate you, Water Tribe!" Mai calls, her teeth chattering.

"You wanted to get in," Katara says sweetly and Korra giggles. Katara combs Korra's hair out of her face and shows her a miniature water whip.

"You are the absolute worst," Mai snaps at Katara, treading water. She swims out towards the center of the serene lake and then turns back and swims towards Katara. Mai is certainly not bad at it.

"This is why water is clearly the most powerful element," Katara says smugly, making waves that cause Korra to grin eagerly.

"I object to that! Waterbenders died out because the survival of the fittest!"

"Waterbenders died out because your grandfather committed genocide!"

"Well, if water is so powerful why didn't you stop the genocide? Huh?"

"Yeah, Katara, why didn't you stop the genocide?" Mai snickers and Katara splashes her back several feet.

"We should probably not make jokes about genocide. Our mission and goal is to end the war and hostility," Zuko says and Katara narrows her eyes at him.

"Genocide isn't a joke! Waterbending is a joke!" Azula calls from across the clearing.

"Someone silence her," Katara groans.

"If waterbending is so powerful, silence me with your─" Azula rolls out of the way, narrowly missing a spear of ice that materialized while she was talking. "That could have killed me!"

"If your firebending is so powerful, why don't you just melt the ice blade coming at you?"

Azula stands up, picks up the smooth, pointed spear of ice and melts it over her hand. It soaks the grass around her feet as her ankles slide into a fighting stance.

"Your move, Water Tribe." Azula lights three fingers bright blue.

"No, no, no!" comes a voice that has not been heard since this morning. "Both of your bending is at my utter control and nobody is drowning or burning anybody on our beautiful relaxation day!"

Azula promptly sits down and Katara laughs.

"Oh, like you're volunteering to be chi-blocked." Azula rolls her eyes, sighs, and returns to lying down quietly conversing with Ty Lee.

"Whipped," Mai murmurs to herself before her mouth fills with water.

Dinner comes as soon as the sun has set. It is chilly now and the group find themselves wrapped in blankets and eating more borderline inedible food.

"Alright, so someone get out the map and I'll figure out where we're going," Azula declares as she picks at the terrible food. Perhaps she was overly pampered in a palace and the Earth Kingdom A-List.

"You can't just give orders. Ask nicely if you want us to do things for you," Katara says and Mai chokes on her soup. Zuko moves to help her but she saves herself. "Also, I've actually done this kind of thing before. I've never heard of you _walking _across a continent before. I've never heard of you _walking _down a street."

"You misunderstand. I'm the leader. I say what we do, and if I don't have the knowledge to make an informed decision, I'll ask someone who knows. Like you. Or Zuko. Zuko was a fugitive in the Earth Kingdom for a while," Azula says calmly, although her eyes are sparkling violently.

"Well, I think that maybe Zuko should be the leader." It is Zuko's turn to nearly die from a mixture of saliva and half-cooked soup.

"I am perfectly content not being the leader," Zuko says loudly, coughing as Mai claps him on the back. "Azula is definitely the leader."

"I think she's grossly under qualified. Maybe we don't even need a leader," Katara continues as everyone looks uncomfortable. "Just because you're a princess doesn't make you better than everybody else."

"Yes, it does. That's basically the definition of princess. You wouldn't know," Azula says, her eyes narrowed. Ty Lee clenches and unclenches her fists. "Alright, if you're so against the basic and simple concept of monarchy, why don't we have a vote. Who votes for Zuko to be the leader?"

Katara's hand shoots up. Mai looks at her palm, then looks at Azula, and finally stays silent.

"That's one for Zuko as the leader," Azula continues, one eyebrow cocked. "Who wants Katara to be the leader? Oh, oh see that, _no one_. Who wants me to be the leader?"

Slowly and hesitantly, three hands make their way into the air. Korra sticks her hand up and Katara snorts at the child who does not understand. Mai murmurs an apology to Katara. Ty Lee offers a grin and Zuko just shakes his head.

"Well, see, democracy prevails. I am the leader." Azula nods and takes a bite of her food.

Katara chews on the inside of her cheek.

"Well, you better take our ideas into account as a _democratic leader_," Katara says sharply and Azula shrugs.

"Alright, Katara, tell me all about your time flying across the continent on a giant monster. Zuko, tell me all about lying your way into people's private homes and robbing them in a spirit mask," Azula says and Katara and Zuko both look confused.

"I didn't _rob _anyone in a spirit mask, Azula," Zuko says sharply and Azula scoffs.

"You are the Blue Spirit. Common knowledge."

"What's the Blue Spirit?" Katara asks, glancing around.

"I am not getting involved in this insane accusation again," Mai sighs, rolling her eyes. Again with the Blue Spirit.

"Zuko, tell them that you're the Blue Spirit! Tell them so that they believe me! I'm not lying!" Azula exclaims frantically and Katara laughs uncomfortably. The princess gestures wildly at Mai and Ty Lee, who look incredibly unimpressed.

"I guess it doesn't hurt people to know anymore," Zuko says with a shrug, but not before smirking at Azula's mania over it. "Yeah, I'm the Blue Spirit."

"I told them! I told them all!" Azula shrieks and something rustles in the woods. Mai sets her fingertips on the hilt of a knife before the sound settles. "_Oh_, I'm Admiral Zhao now, aren't I? Raving about you being the Blue Spirit." A regal sigh. "Well, now you know."

Zuko laughs while everyone else is stunned into silence. "Wait, how did you know about Zhao and his obsession with exposing me?"

"How did I know the Blue Spirit existed? He ranted and raved to everyone but they all shut him up before he mentioned it to father," Azula says with another sigh. Ty Lee rubs her back and Azula's bats her hand away. "I don't want to be Admiral Zhao. He was so creepy. I have never seen a man unrepentantly check out a thirteen year old girl."

"Really?" Ty Lee asks, looking more interested than Zuko exposing himself as a famous masked vigilante. "He's the only old man you noticed look at your tits?"

"I said _unrepentantly_. We should kill all twenty advisors when we invade," Azula says, tacking on the last sentence as an afterthought.

"Even the ones who were loyal to you?" Ty Lee asks, eyebrows knit together.

"My father _executed _all of the advisors who were loyal to me. We should kill them all. I'm just glad Zhao died. Only good thing about the North Pole."

"I thought you would be glad that Uncle and I were discredited."

The three Fire Nation girls laugh at a joke that Zuko and Katara do not understand. Mai wipes her eyes from tears of mirth and Zuko is utterly stunned. Azula is choking on her laughter too much to explain so Ty Lee jumps in with, "_More_ discredited? You two were like the running joke of the Fire Nation for years."

"It's so sad," Mai remarks, but she is smiling faintly. "You two honestly didn't deserve it. It was pretty much just Ozai tinting everything in his favor by destroying the image of his rivals. _Crazy princess_."

"I've never had so much in common with my brother and uncle," Azula says, shaking her head slowly. Katara is out of the loop and plays with her hair uncomfortably. "Hot tip about the Blue Spirit thing; don't make your vigilante alter ego something that can be traced to your childhood. Maybe some Earth Kingdom spirit unrelated to you would have worked in your favor better?"

"No one would know that but you," Zuko responds sharply and Mai cocks an eyebrow.

"Who was tasked with hunting you down?" Mai asks and Zuko stares at the dirt. "You're smart, but not... thinking things through thoroughly smart, Zuko."

"Yeah, he kidnapped me many times and just, well, never thought it through," Katara remarks, shrugging. She jabs Zuko with her elbow and he glares at them.

"But you'd rather have been kidnapped by Azula," Mai says and Katara's eyes are like saucer's. Azula perks up from studying Zuko.

"I would have totally killed her as soon as the negotiation was over," Azula says haughtily and Katara rolls her eyes. "I'm not stupid enough to just let you free after doing all the work to kidnap you."

"But," Mai says, edging closer to Katara, who looks about to strangle Mai with a water whip, "you would definitely have to ravage her first, would you not?"

"Ew," is Azula's response and Katara is flushed. "Are you interested in me?"

"Katara had a crush on you way back when," Mai says, looking gloriously entertained. Katara stares daggers at her gloomy companion. "She told me all about it, and how you made her question your sexuality. I mean, we've all been there, but I thought it was pretty funny."

"That's... cute..." Azula has no words and Katara jabs her tongue into the side of her cheek to keep from saying some unkind things that would not be cohesive to the mission. "I don't think you're unattractive. The ew was because I don't condone ravaging, because my brother and I must set an example for the Fire Nation and that's just completely inappropriate behavior."

"I definitely need Princess Azula to validate my attractiveness." Katara rolls her cobalt eyes so forcefully she fears they may pop out of her head. But Mai catches the blush on her cheeks to mild delight.

"No, I think you do," Azula says, but before she can continue, her brother interrupts.

"You just told me that I was the laughingstock of the Fire Nation. And I have to set an example for them? I could've massacred people and ravaged Katara and it would probably only make me more popular," Zuko says, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"Just because you put the crown away doesn't make you not a prince, ZuZu."

"Actually, you became Crown Princess Azula when he was banished. So technically, when he put his crown away, he wasn't a prince anymore," Mai interjects as Ty Lee runs out of food to force into her mouth to keep from getting involved in the conversation.

"I still wore the crown." Zuko shrugs, rubbing his neck. "Are you still Crown Princess Azula?"

"I hit my father with lightning and ran away from home. I'm pretty sure it's Crown Princess Kazumi now," Azula says, before taking a bite of the borderline edible dinner. "Why is everybody so quiet? I'm not jealous. I'll be Fire Lord Azula soon enough."

"Who's Kazumi?" Ty Lee asks softly, cocking an eyebrow. Azula blinks, glancing around.

"My daughter. Did you all just not notice that I wasn't pregnant anymore? Or... or what?" Azula seems genuinely baffled.

"You never told us her name," Katara explains softly, treading where no one else is daring.

"No one asked." A hollow response. A typical, as Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee know, response from Azula when she does not want to give a genuine answer.

Katara swallows, guilt in her stomach. The conversation shifts and the laughter resumes. Azula looks entirely unfazed.

That night, they set up tents for what feels like the thousandth time. Zuko watches the fire for hours; he never sleeps even though Katara tries to convince him to. She winds up alone at night, crying with her knees touching her chin. But tonight is slightly better; today was devoid of pain. Katara sleeps easily and sleeps well, without a single tear shed.

She does not even need to whisper to herself, again and again, _"I am not Hama."_

Azula and Ty Lee are awake as Mai is pretending to sleep. They are intertwined with each other. Never has Mai seen Azula _inseparable _from anything except her lust for power, but since they were separated and Ty Lee tortured, Azula seems terrified to let her out of her sight. It would be funny if it weren't so depressing.

"Can I tell you something and you won't tell anyone?" Azula murmurs to Ty Lee, who is wrapping her fingers in Azula's hair. Mai's ears perk up although she loathes herself for it.

"Yeah," Ty Lee replies softly, sounding a little too eager.

"I'm my mother, aren't I? I abandoned my daughter and she's going to grow up to hate me the way I hate my mother," Azula says and Mai swallows. She wishes she were asleep. "What if we never make it back? Or it takes years to gather the Invasion? Or Ba Sing Se falls again. Or they just... never let me inside the walls..."

"We're going back and we're going back as quickly as we can. I'm absolutely going to be Fire Lady and I will have it no other way, Azula," Ty Lee says shrilly, but her voice is choked with hidden tears. "And there will be no nannies for our child. I will raise her and you better do some of it even if you are Fire Lord."

Azula attempts to laugh but just makes a coughing sound. "You have to wear your crown when you take her places so no one thinks you're some peasant nanny."

Silence. Ty Lee smiles faintly. Azula stares at the pinpoint of starlight through the canvas.

"My mother was a peasant. Colony trash. My father was born in a farmhouse before he worked his way to money," Ty Lee says earnestly and Azula never knew any of it. She never bothered to ask. "New money. Not like Mai. I mean, your father was evidently born in a palace, but your mother...?"

Azula shrugs. "I know nothing about her."

"Nothing?"

"I never was old enough to find out from her. I didn't ever bother to ask because she was the only person who disciplined me and as a kid who was always smarter than all the adults in the room I resented that. It felt degrading." Pause. "I know nothing about her. I remember sometimes how she looked. Distinctly how she smelled. I have no recollection of her voice, even when I feel pissed at things she said to me. I was eleven when she left. That's too old for me not to know her at all."

"Do you wish you made the effort?" Ty Lee whispers and Azula shakes her head.

"Zuko might know." Silence. Azula toys with the fringe of her sleeping bag. "It was kind of petty for me just to hate her over the fact that she disciplined me. She called me awful things and made me feel very unloved, but I sometimes wish I had tried. Maybe then I would remember what color her eyes were."

"Sometimes?"

"Only sometimes."

In the earliest hours of the morning, Mai escapes the tent. Her two childhood companions are asleep, and she needed to make it out as quickly as possible. She pretended to be asleep for the entire night after hearing Azula speak so vulnerably, and now she just needs to dive into the cold water.

"You're up early," comes Zuko's voice and Mai cringes. "Did something happen?"

"I'm going to take my clothes off and go into the water now. You can watch if you want," is Mai's incredibly nonresponsive reply.

Once Mai is in the crystalline pool, the waterfall rushing behind her, she examines Zuko. He sits on a rock, having clearly been meditating peacefully, and Mai debates whether she should confide Azula's secret in Zuko or not. One part of her wants to gain points with her friends after betraying them to Ozai, but the other part of her wants not to be electrocuted to death.

"What happened anyway?" Zuko asks, picking up a loose piece of rock and rolling it in his palms. Mai squirms in the cold water. Her pallid skin has broken out in goosebumps, but despite her loathing for being cold or wet, it feels refreshing after the past complicated two weeks of travel.

"Azula was talking about your mom last night. While I was pretending to be asleep," Mai replies, deciding upon honesty. "She wasn't saying angry things. She said... sad things. She's worried that her kid is going to hate her like she hates your mom. And then she was saying that she wished she had made the effort to know your mother because she knew absolutely nothing about her."

"That's... shocking." Zuko has no other words.

"It was heartbreaking. She's a human. Maybe you should talk to her," Mai says and Zuko snorts derisively. "What? You actually think she's psychologically okay after what we went through?"

"I don't think I would ever call Azula psychologically okay," Zuko replies earnestly, rolling his eyes. Mai purses her lips, half her jaw clenched. "No, that's just not something I would talk to her about. She wouldn't take it well coming from me."

Silence. Mai slips out of the water and Zuko tries not to stare. It would be rude; she clearly is not his girlfriend anymore. Mai is mildly disgusted by Zuko's respect, mildly aroused by it. She reaches to her clothes and pulls on her underwear and a yellowed slip. It sticks to her skin, the water accentuating every curve of her body.

"Thank you for trying to take the fall for me," Mai says, twisting the bottom of her slip in her dripping fingers. "It was a... nice thing. Not that it worked very well. But thank you."

Mai sits down beside him on the stone. Zuko faces her, wanting desperately to kiss her. But she is by far in love with Katara; Zuko is sure of it.

"I wouldn't have spied or sold you out or... if I didn't have to," Mai says and Zuko can hear the lament in her voice. She regrets.

"It's fine. We would all do it to protect our family," Zuko replies and Mai shrugs. Water drips from her eyelashes and if Zuko weren't the wiser he would think the lake-water was mixed with tears.

"He slept with me," Mai says and Zuko is not sure what she is talking about. "Your father did."

Zuko clenches his fist. He seems to want to show more anger, but is incapable. It perturbs him that his imprisonment was the least brutal. He was beaten and humiliated, tormented, taunted by his own father. And he deserved those things more than his friends deserved what they received.

But everyone feels as much sympathy for Zuko as they do for Katara, who murmurs things to herself at night that Zuko does not understand. Nor does he want to ask. Or Azula, whose daughter was turned against her. Korra, who was given to a family that was not hers and asked to pretend to be Fire Nation. Ty Lee, who was tortured for loving the wrong person. Mai... who was manipulated and abused for a family that is likely now dead.

Zuko does not deserve the meager scars he bears.

"I'm trying not to get caught in it," Mai says, picking up pebbles. "Because the past is over. I want to think about the future."

"He's going to die," Zuko says forcefully and Mai's amber eyes flicker. She is startled by his vehemence. "My father is going to pay for it all."

Mai leans forward, and before Zuko can say more, she kisses him on the lips. He touches her back gently, afraid to do more. Maybe she feels forced. He cannot let her feel forced. She wraps her legs around him, slippery on his lap on the edge of the cool, clear water.

The kisses grow more passionate and feverish. They missed each other with a fervor that is only just remembered. Mai feels guilt; Zuko feels guilt. Their hands find each other in the grey morning. The sun is starting to poke through a thick layer of clouds as Mai finds herself lying on a stone above the water, her wet clothes stripped from her now dry and heated body.

She thinks she may love Zuko. Or something along those lines as his lips are on hers. Her legs and arms are wrapped around him as they feel perfectly together in the Universe, as they used to be. It is almost as it used to be when they were teenagers. And Mai feels brilliantly alive, like she has not since she was taken to the Fire Nation in chains.

They pull apart very slowly, almost not certain what has just happened. Their clothes are around them like autumn leaves that fell from tall trees and Mai looks at Zuko with concern in her eyes. Zuko takes a deep breath and has no idea what he is supposed to say in this situation.

"Is this the future you're talking about? I don't know you anymore," Zuko says and Mai purses her lips. She does not know what to say in this situation either. "One moment you love her, the other, you love me."

"I just don't know. I'm..."

"She's pretty indecisive." And they both jump. Mai pulls her abandoned dress over herself, Zuko grabs his pile of clothes and sets them over his waist, their elbows clashing as they quickly do so. "We would go shopping and it would take her a _thousand _hours to pick anything out. You and Katara are a little like... two different scarves. They're basically identical, but of course Mai can't choose for herself."

"Azula, you can't just..." Zuko says sharply.

"I can't just walk to the water? I didn't _know _you two would be fucking here. If I did, by all means I would have stayed in my tent. This is as uncomfortable for me as it is for you," Azula says, although her lips are twisted into a smirk. "Katara or Zuko. You'll have to choose eventually."

Azula glances at the water she was about to wash her face in, decides against it, and walks towards the woods. She seizes Ty Lee, whom is trying to kindle the fire, by the arm and heads into the forest in search of other water to use.

"Where are we going?" Ty Lee demands shrilly as Azula pulls her through the trees.

"To find water. Mai and Zuko are fucking by the lake," Azula replies with a regal sigh, stepping through the forest. She approaches a babbling brook and smirks to herself. This came far more easily than anything else in her life recently.

"You dragged me all the way out here so you could wash your face?" Ty Lee asks, looking annoyed. But Azula kneels by the water and does it anyway, regardless of Ty Lee's qualms.

The acrobat is leaning on a tree when Azula decides she is presentable enough. As she rises, Azula tilts her head to the side and examines Ty Lee, who is chewing the inside of her cheek and looking worlds away mentally. Azula walks to her, slowly, Ty Lee noticing but not truly noticing. And in a single move, Azula has her pinned to the tree.

"That's terrifying, don't─" and Azula's lips cut off Ty Lee's multitude of complaints.

Her hands slip up Ty Lee's shirt, clothes that are wrinkled from being washed in the crystalline lake and dried in the sun. Cold fingernails brush against now exposed skin, Ty Lee moaning at the slow touch. Ty Lee's shirt slips over her head, Azula's lips returning to hers as soon as it is gone.

The difference between them is certainly embodied in the fact that Ty Lee is wearing what barely amounts to a bra, and Azula is completely covered beneath her stolen red middle class clothes.

Azula's hands slip to Ty Lee's cleavage, hesitating for a moment. Then more forceful. Another moan from the acrobat. Ty Lee seizes Azula as Azula's lips touch her neck and pins _her _to the tree.

"The tables have turned," Ty Lee whispers in Azula's ear, hot breath tickling her neck.

"Don't count yourself so luck─_okay_." She had more to say, but she forgets it as she is stripped down and dug into in exact places that feel perfect. Azula envies the comprehensive knowledge of the points of a body that make pleasure and pain. The princess finds herself guessing what she should kiss and touch.

Azula slides up on the tree, the bark scraping her back and leaving red marks. But she does not feel the pain, Ty Lee's lips on her clavicle, her breast.

And they are on the ground, on the dirt, which Azula finds utterly disgusting. But she lies there, leaves getting tangled in her raven hair as Ty Lee's fingers slip down in a straight line between their bodies.

With the motions, motions of penetration that make Azula gasp, and Azula leans upwards in messy kisses. Reaching at her futilely until she is controlled entirely by pleasure.

She pushes Ty Lee to the ground, straddling her. Azula cannot return the same acts as she has flushed skin and a purpose in mind.

And so they carry out in the middle of the woods, together, united, and no longer afraid.

No one can hurt them anymore.

"We have to catch food," Katara says that night with confidence.

"We have to what?" is Azula's response, cocking an eyebrow. "You mean other than this fish? Because I am not hunting animals."

"You're alright with killing _people_, but not _animals_?" Zuko asks and Azula pauses for a moment, her eyes pointing up and to the left as she contemplates the question. Finally, she nods.

"Not just animals. Also berries and things," Katara sighs. "We're going to starve on fish every night. Maybe not die of hunger, but even in the Water Tribe, there's seaweed and plants. And other, non-fish animals."

"Why don't we just go purchase some food?" Azula offers, one palm pointing up.

"Oh, yes, let's just walk the former Fire Lord right into a colony. Azula, you can't go unrecognized anymore. People are looking for you, and your year as Fire Lord of Propaganda makes you stick out like a sore thumb. Also, the whole blue fire thing," Zuko says huffily and Azula hesitates. "My scar is pretty noticeable. Maybe Mai and Ty Lee and Katara could go while we waited, but right now that's the second choice."

Azula sighs. She realizes she is the only one who disagrees with trying to sustain themselves while avoiding civilization.

"These colonies are too close to the Fire Nation. You may remember them as towns you conquered," Mai says to the princess and Azula rolls her eyes.

"Okay, alright, I understand. We have to be... outdoors people or something," Azula says, frowning.

And so they spend the day attempting to live off of the land. Katara is significantly better at it than the rest of them, including Zuko, who has some knowledge of foliage and animals. Ty Lee has poison ivy on her wrist, Mai is lying down on a rock in the sun pretending to be asleep so she does not have to work and Azula simply got up and walked back to camp when she decided she was not naturally gifted at hunting and gathering.

"This has to be our last night here," Katara declares and no one argues with her.

"Bonfire?" Ty Lee asks, clasping her hands together.

"Bonfire." Zuko nods forcefully.

And so they make a bonfire, and forget for a while.

Forgetting has never been so blissful.

Meanwhile, in the Fire Nation, Ozai has drafted how he is going to explain to the public that Azula, Zuko and three war criminals have escaped from the Fire Nation. He needs to vilify them in the best possible way, as much as he is still in pain over their betrayal. As much as he is still in pain from the lightning strike on his shoulder. It is still being treated weeks later.

She aimed to kill him. If she had not been shaking so hard, so weak, it would have killed him and he knows it.

Ozai walks to address the public in the same place where he forced Azula to give false speeches. She made a far better puppet than enemy. But he imagines he has warped it enough to portray her as a traitor.

There is applause, but it is nothing like what Azula received. But Ozai no longer cares; he has the throne and he will keep it at all costs. He stands and examines the people.

"Your former prince and princess have fled the country like cowards. I start bluntly with that. They took with them three dangerous war criminals and a child. They intend to undo the nation to mold it into how they would like it to be. Abuse of power is what they desire. It is not what I desire," Ozai says and he can tell that at least half of them believe her. "Any sympathy towards my son or daughter, now traitors and war criminals themselves, will not be tolerated. Even a word of loyalty to your Former Fire Lord will be met with a swift execution. I am erasing them before they can poison our nation, as they desire."

Pause. Silence. The crowd looks uncomfortable and afraid.

"I would also like to introduce the new Crown Princess of the Fire Nation."

* * *

><p>AN: The next six chapters both further the current plot and will go back and flesh out everything that happened in the Fire Nation. Each chapter tells each character's story, and will fill in the blanks of the past few chapters. The plot also moves forward, but there is a brief break in plot things happening to go back and tell the individual story, if that makes sense. 19 is Mai, 20 is Katara, 21 is Zuko, 22 is Korra, 23 is Ty Lee and 24 is Azula. All the questions that were unanswered, like the hatching of the escape plan and Kazumi's birth, and Katara's prison escape and stuff will be in these chapters.


	19. The Fire Lord's Mistress

Chapter Nineteen: The Fire Lord's Mistress

* * *

><p>Mai wakes up beside Katara. The waterbender seems incredibly distressed in her sleep. More nightmares clearly, not that she would talk to Mai about any of them. Katara is the most open about her emotions of all of their group, yet even she refuses to say what upsets her so deeply.<p>

"Who's Hama?" Mai decides to ask as they walk. Katara is hanging near the back and Mai walks with her. It is Zuko's turn to carry Korra and he is laughing at her childish jokes. Azula is hiding her smirk at the Avatar, Ty Lee clutching her tightly like something that might drift away at any moment.

"Somebody I met a long time ago. It's not important," Katara replies slowly and Mai chooses not to mess with her decision. They continue through the woods.

Mai studies Katara closely, thinking of how she slept with Zuko. Choosing just one of them is going to be impossible as she sees the drive in Katara's eyes, or the passion in Zuko's. They have united to fight a war alone, and they can only rely on each other.

"What's ahead?" Azula asks, holding up a hand for them all to stop.

"I don't see anything," Zuko replies and Azula slowly shakes her head.

"That's a toll bridge," Azula murmurs, slipping forward with the silence of a shadow. She breaks free of Ty Lee and looks ahead.

Seven soldiers. They could take them easily if they wanted to.

Azula steps forward, lightning two fingers on each hand. She intends to clear the way for her friends, for her only allies. It is the most unlikely alliance she has ever made, and she is not giving it up that easily.

"I'm going to give you one chance to live," Azula says, holding up her lit hands. But before she can give an ultimatum or a threat, all seven soldiers kneel to the ground for some reason. Azula watches with paranoia, prepared to strike at whatever they are doing.

_They're bowing_.

"How do you know who I am?" Azula demands as she sees their lips nearly touching the ground. She looks over at the bridge and then to them.

"The fire," squeaks one soldier who seems braver than the others. Azula glances at her hands and they slowly fizzle out.

"I'm not royalty anymore. I'm a traitor," Azula says slowly as she hears the bushes rustle with her allies coming closer.

"More people are loyal to you than you think," the same soldier says, looking up with only his deep brown eyes. "No one thinks you're a traitor. If anything, he is."

Fire Lord Ozai is the traitor in their minds. Azula's eyes flash in surprise.

This could work in Azula's advantage. She could liberate people. She could rally an army that, in addition to her uncle's forces, could easily conquer the Fire Nation.

"My friends and I are going to pass. You tell everyone you know about this," Azula says as Mai winds up close to her, examining the strange sight. "Tell them that those whose loyalty is in the right place will be rewarded."

They agree and Azula passes the bridge with her surprised accomplices. Azula feels her heart fluttering with raw excitement as she realizes that she is still the Fire Lord to so many. That she has more soldiers at her command than four friends and a baby.

"What was that about?" Mai asks softly, studying Azula closely.

"I have supporters in the Earth Kingdom," Azula says quietly, cocking an eyebrow. "This could work in our advantage."

"Princess Azula, face of a revolution. It's catchy," Mai remarks with a small smirk. "I did hear him called the Usurper more than I heard you called a traitor."

"So it seems," Azula purrs with a self satisfied smirk.

They set up camp a few miles away from the bridge. Katara is putting everything in place and setting up snares in the woods when she comes across a sight that sends her reeling backwards. Two men murmuring about what they overheard blowing through towns about Princess Azula in this part of the Earth Kingdom.

Bounty hunters. Katara doubles back, running to her friends. She snaps two twigs and the bounty hunters come after her full force. They have Ty Lee in a net that Katara narrowly dodges, before anyone can do anything.

Azula and Mai are missing, only Zuko is in the camp. He takes on one bounty hunter, firebender versus firebender. Katara seizes broiling water from the pot and douses one man with it. His skin blisters as he falls back.

Azula and Mai run towards the scene as Katara is being pushed back. Zuko is still locked into combat with one man, who is one of the most competent firebenders Katara has ever seen.

Mai throws two knives before she is grabbed from behind. She kicks and reaches to stab the man as he pushes her against a tree, scraping her cheek.

There are eight of them and four of Katara and her friends.

Azula takes out two of the bounty hunters, but the battle is not going well. They fight and Katara glances over, seeing one man about to make a final blow on Mai. She sends a water whip is broken by a baton smashing into her arm. She screams and stumbles.

She is advanced on as Mai hits the ground, unconscious. Katara crawls backwards as Azula strikes one bounty hunter down with lightning. But one moves at Korra and Azula slips in front of her, tangling her legs and being pushed down. Her head collides with a rock and she gasps, wincing in pain, her vision blurry.

Katara panics as a sword is brought down towards Zuko. She seizes the man's arm with her bending. He screams in panic, wondering what is happening to him. Azula sits up slowly, watching Katara snap the man who advanced on Zuko's hands behind his back.

Katara slowly stands up, still with the man in her grasp. His friends abandon him in horror, as Katara's friends are just as stunned, save for Zuko.

She feels rage rushing through her. The bounty hunter is not who she imagines him as, but she sees him momentarily as one of the guards in the prison she was kept in. She feels his blood thin with her bending, he passes out and his blood trickles from a small cut left by Zuko.

And he bleeds out as Katara's companions are speechless.

Katara sobs hysterically when she sees him die, kneeling on the ground.

_I am not Hama. I am not Hama. I _am _Hama._

* * *

><p><strong>Mai's Story<strong>

Mai cannot believe she sold them out. The guilt is overwhelming and twisting in her stomach as she is taken by guards from Zuko's bedroom. Her eyes lock on a picture of them tacked up on the wall, right across from his bed. He probably saw her every night before he fell asleep.

She almost cries before realizing what she is doing. The tingling in her noses ceases at her command as she is taken back to the ornate and cushy room that serves as her prison cell. The torture will end. What just happened to her is something she has not taken in yet. There is a certain soreness but the physical cannot rival what she is going through mentally at this moment.

But they are strong. Her friends are the absolute best at what they do.

Mai hates snitches. She just betrayed everything in her that she knows is right to protect her family. But they could die anyway. He could be lying. She does not know what to think and all she is occupied with is how painful it is to know that she has betrayed her friends.

It does not even cross her mind what happened to her body. Her thoughts are more on what could have happened to her friends. They have time. It takes time to summon a fleet. They can't strike right away and that is all Mai can console herself with.

Or maybe she would prefer it to go more quickly. She does not know.

She lies in bed, grateful for the torture ending, but terrified of what will happen to Zuko, Azula, Ty Lee and Katara. Mai can feel her heart beating through her chest as images of charred, bloody bodies in snow float through her thoughts like waking nightmares.

Mai sings to herself quietly as she tries to sleep. An old song her mother once sang her, back when her mother thought of more than her father's political career. That was the brief period of time before Ozai became Fire Lord and Mai's father was lucky enough to be a supporter of Ozai from the start. But Mai sings the words on her tear stained lips in the darkness with the blankets wrapped around her.

She betrayed them. She betrayed them. She betrayed them.

Mai squeezes her eyes shut and does not fall asleep, even when the sun rises.

She spends most of her days in this state. Trying to sleep so she can forget, but haunted by what she did.

Mai is interrupted from her focus on escape plans by royal guards opening the locked door to her room. The royal guard Mai would not fuck with; their uniforms are distinctly different from soldiers, and they are all adept at multiple weapons and firebending. Mai could beat them, possibly, but they _are_ the toughest fighters in the Fire Nation and Mai isn't taking chances on that.

"Fire Lord Ozai would like to see you," one of them says. They all look identical to Mai, with their uniform hair and clothes perfectly matching each other.

Mai sits up, walking with them and elbowing away hands when they try to hold her. Where would she run? How would she run? There is no need to treat Ozai's spy like a prisoner. Even if she is one.

"How has your stay been?" the Fire Lord usurper asks as Mai enters and is shut in. They are in a room Mai has never been in, even sneaking around with Azula as kids. It is a parlor with shut doors and maps on the walls.

An office? Mai is not certain. Plush furniture. Hmph. She cannot figure it out.

"Not terrible," Mai replies, unsure what reaction Ozai will have. He laughs briefly before walking to the antique sofa and sitting down. Mai turns to face him, finding that she still feels smaller than him even when looking down at him.

"Would you like to see your family? I'd hate for you to think I'm a liar," Ozai says smoothly, examining Mai closely. She responds to his gaze by carefully watching him, as if he is about to strike.

"I'd like that," Mai admits softly, rubbing her arm.

"It will happen. I'd like to know more about my daughter and son's stay with the Water Tribe," Ozai says and Mai quickly weighs what she can give and what she cannot.

"They came for the protection of Katara, one of the Avatar's friends. I was travelling with her for a while. They were happy there."

"I don't care how happy they were. I care if they were planning anything. I care if there is anything I should know about them," Ozai says, leaning forward. Mai takes two involuntary steps backwards.

"Azula is engaged to Ty Lee." Mai pauses. She leaves out the fact that Azula is pregnant. It might change his orders to the fleet, and Mai does not want that. Ozai seems annoyed about it, but he simply nods. "Zuko was struggling to fit in. But they accepted us. I don't think either of them had felt that accepted in a long time."

"I see. Nothing eventful. Hm, I expected them to be planning an invasion, not playing house," Ozai remarks with a small smirk, as if it is amusing. Mai takes a deep breath and tries not to be offended.

"I don't think there's anything very valuable tactically about their time in the Water Tribe."

"Their time that is coming towards a quick end," Ozai adds. They are in silence for a moment before Ozai says, "Take off your clothes."

"What?" is all Mai can respond with. No one has ever said that to her before.

"You heard me," is his response. Mai hesitates, blinking twice.

It hits her like a punch in the gut that this is going to turn into something very dark. She is about to become far more than his informant. And Mai hesitates, thinking of the people she has abandoned in the Water Tribe, and thinking of her mother and brother.

Mai removes her shirt with relative ease. Her skirt feels more awkward but she accomplishes it without tripping, something she was quite certain would happen. She still has her mother's lullaby on repeat in her mind as she stands in the hot night in her underwear, unsure what to do, standing there mute.

And she walks to him as he gestures for her to do.

Weeks later, Mai's first two visits with Azula were futile. She feels like she has wasted everything in her on Azula, but Katara is being moved tomorrow, Zuko being locked away from her, Ty Lee completely useless and in ten kinds of denial.

Mai looks at the bar in the little used parlor. It is in the living quarters, but the living quarters are not very lived in. Even when Zuko was back after Ba Sing Se, they seemed cold and lifeless to Mai. White liquor is in a few bottles, one of them that Mai keeps eyeing.

"You can have that, if you want," comes Ozai's voice. Mai hesitates, examining him, examining what he intends to do with her.

She uncaps the bottle and puts it directly to her lips, forgoing a cup. It burns, but she finds the pain pleasurable.

That night she sees double when he fucks her. And when she wakes up, she is violently ill.

She is side by side with Fire Lord Ozai in the dark night. The window is open, filling the room with a rare cool breeze. Mai stares at the window and knows that even if she climbed out, there would be no escaping. She could not leave Azula, or her mother, or brother, or Zuko, or Katara, or Ty Lee or Korra... she could not leave them.

And so she finds herself as the Fire Lord's mistress.

She knows it is falling on her to find some kind of escape. But all she can think about is how this is her fault, how she has caused all of this. If she had just tried harder, if she had not been captured, if she had let herself die before confessing the information. It kills her with every breath she takes.

Her breathing is timed with his for a few heartbeats and she feels queasy.

"Where are they, Mai?" Azula murmurs two weeks later, leaning close to her only friend. Her only tie to the world outside of the insane world her father put her in. A gilded cage lined with madness.

"Locked up." Silence. Mai's throat feels scratchy and dry.

Azula has been starving herself for days to no avail. Mai has been trying to dance between Ozai, whom she pretends to be loyal to, and Azula, who she is genuinely loyal to. Katara has been moved from the prison and Mai can't work up the courage to figure out where she is, Zuko is being kept away from her under direct orders of the Fire Lord, who is, of course, concerned about Mai conniving something with her ex-boyfriend.

"I can't believe this." Azula closes her eyes, lying down.

"I wish they were dead," Mai says earnestly, thinking of what their friends must be going through. "And I wish we were dead too."

"The feeling is mutual," Azula whispers in response.

Mai lies down beside her, trying not to stare too much at her protruding stomach. Mai can predict that this baby is not going to end well for anyone, and whatever Azula thinks she is winning by having it is going to be negated by Ozai's inevitable counter. But she does not say it. She has already done too much to wound her friends.

Azula asks, "Are you done fighting? You seem like you've given up."

Mai stares at the ceiling, barely blinking. She does not know how to answer that question. All she knows is that there is no fight in her anymore. Or maybe there never was. She just wears a necklace of rope alongside Azula and they both will fall eventually, but not before they watch everything they care about burn to the ground first.

"I haven't," Mai lies. She cannot tell Azula that she has given up too. Somebody has to be hanging on to hope. "I'm going to save us."

Mai visits her mother the next day, after sleeping beside Azula for the entire night. She walks through the streets, feeling queasy that she can move so freely but not go anywhere. When she arrives at her mother's house, she sees that she is looking much better.

"Mai, I hate to ask you for a favor," mother says in her shaky, false voice. "Will you pick up your brother from school?"

"I don't see why not," Mai says, without the knowledge that her mother finds her behavior incredibly suspicious. Mai was never helpful. And showing up in the Fire Nation after escaping prison feels like bad news to her.

But Mai takes off into the street and walks to the primary school. And it is there, as she is waiting for her brother, that she sees a Water Tribe child. Not _any _Water Tribe child. The Avatar.

Before Mai can duck out of sight and risk jeopardizing the life of a toddler, Korra comes running to her. Wonderful. Mai is so screwed.

"Mai!" Korra exclaims, dashing to her, dragging a schoolbag across the ground.

"Oh, good, you're alive." Mai glances around in paranoia. She awkwardly pats Korra's head and the child scowls at her. "Go find your new parents. We can't be seen together."

But Korra is rummaging in her bag and staring Mai down. Mai has her fingers crossed that no elements come out of her limbs. She forces something into Mai's unwilling hands as Mai's brother appears through the doors of the school.

Mai unravels the paper and sees a drawing. Oh, it's Mai and Katara. This kid just _wants _to be executed. Mai shoves it into her pocket and murmurs an uncomfortable thank you.

She collects her brother and watches Korra be taken away by a young woman who refers to her as her daughter. Mai feels a moment of hope and inspiration that she did not have before. Korra is attainable. If she could only get Katara... and Zuko... and Ty Lee... they could...

Mai turns away from the thoughts as soon as they blossom. Resistance is futile. She takes her brother to her house and has tea with her mother, the whole while thinking of what she has done to be able to afford this time with her family.

The whole while thinking about how quickly it could be yanked away.

Two weeks later, Mai watches Azula's speech. Forced by her father. She watches the executions unflinchingly. This has to end. She will bring it to an end by herself if she has to. She _must_.

"You're coming with me to this event," Ozai says as Mai sits down and gazes intently at the floor. She sees Azula forcing back tears as she was pulled from the execution, dragged back to the palace. She sees Korra playing with children, blissfully unaware of the fact that she has been imprisoned and sentenced to an early death or a life of pain.

"I am?" Mai belatedly replies.

"I want you to," the Fire Lord says and Mai does not ask further.

She realizes quite quickly that she is both a show to any of those who support Azula, and also a pretty, erudite female who doesn't talk much and has been so aggressively trained for political events that it does not wash off with age. She recalls being Zuko's date to these things before, and wonders where he is right now for a moment. And then she remembers that she is the one who put him there.

"Why didn't you bring Azula?" Mai asks, playing with a placard. She sits across from Ozai at a table, alone, not surrounded by the people who have swarmed them for the past two hours. "Is it because you're worried about her supporters or because she's pregnant?" Silence. Ozai does not respond. "Both, then."

"You haven't spoken all night and the first thing you mention is Azula," he says, examining her closely. "What is it about her that's just so _influential_?"

"She's actually extremely terrible and unbearable to be around. _But _she is my best friend, and probably my only friend who is going to be alive for the next year. And given my social skills, probably my last friend ever. Supposing you don't kill me at some point," Mai says calmly. Ozai is always unnerved by her casual monotone about such dark things.

"I don't intend to kill you. Or Azula," Ozai says earnestly. He is no longer paying any attention to the speaker as they are tucked away in a place safe from both assassinations and the scrutinizing eye of the public.

"That's good to know," Mai replies. "But will you even need her after she has her baby?"

"Yes. But your other friend, the one I don't like. She, I won't need. I'm looking forward to being rid of her. She has done nothing but ruin my daughter's life. Somewhat like what my son has done to you."

"I'm flattered," Mai says, suppressing a smirk. "But then there's Zuko."

"Also unnecessary."

"So he's dead as soon as Azula's baby is born too. Alright. So is there a set number of betrayals of the Fire Nation before you're killed off and replaced by an infant? Or does it vary from person to person?" Mai asks and Ozai is not sure if he finds it funny or not. She does not laugh, neither does he; they pretend a joke was not made. "Are you really going to leave your son in prison until he dies? That's kind of depressing. I mean, you did leave him in the Earth Kingdom which is pretty much as terrible as prison, but I feel like he deserves better than some common thief."

"You would say that, as his ex-girlfriend," Ozai remarks, a certain loathing in the final word. Mai has him. She realizes at this moment that she can get away with whatever she wants.

"Well, to be honest, I think you should keep him in the palace until he dies. It makes for a much more aesthetically pleasing prison than, well, an actual prison. He may be a disappointment, but he is your child," Mai says slowly, careful with each word.

"I'll invite him to dinner and see how he... behaves," Ozai says and Mai smiles faintly.

Now, she has three in one place. Azula, Ty Lee and Zuko. Korra she can see any day of the school week with the excuse of her little brother. Katara is the only person up in the air. And so help her, Mai will find her.

Mai is going to save her friends. Ozai should have known better than sleeping with her.

She turns to face the speaker, plotting already.

* * *

><p>"What was that?" Azula demands, looking ferocious. But Katara is standing, shaking, her eyes glazed over.<p>

Zuko had seen it before, but it never had that effect on her. Mai was astounded, yet grateful for her life. But when Katara turned and ran from the corpse of the bounty hunter, no one followed her. Ty Lee picked up Korra, who looked incredibly confused, and clutched her to her chest.

"Bloodbending," Zuko says, recalling what Katara explained to him over two years ago on Ember Island. It was an... interesting conversation to say the least. And belated. He never mentioned it again.

"I'm going to go talk to her," Mai says, accepting that she has to. She breaks away from the group and heads towards the stream where Katara is curled up crying. Mai clenches her jaw and hopes she can handle this level of emotion. "Hi... Katara."

"I've been lying to myself for weeks," Katara spits and Mai recoils. "I _am _Hama."

"Who?"

"Might as well be me."

* * *

><p>AN: Next chapter is Katara's story. I hope the whole flashback thing isn't too jarring, I worried it would be, but there was so much that went into the imprisonment in the Fire Nation that I felt the need to include it somehow.


	20. I Am Not Hama

Chapter Twenty: I Am Not Hama

* * *

><p>"Katara and Mai, want the first watch?" Zuko offers, taking control of the heavily discussed watch system. It is clear that their presence is known, and they need to keep an eye out, therefore, the watch was developed.<p>

"Sure," Mai says instantly, but she glances nervously at Katara. The waterbender is still visibly shaken from the bloodbending incident. Her hands tremble and her eyes glisten slightly with unshed tears.

They sit down by the fire as everyone else sleeps. Mai picks at her nails and Katara struggles not to fall asleep. But if she does fall asleep, she will only have more nightmares. More nightmares of puppets and prisoners.

"Katara," Mai says softly, "I don't think we can keep pretending that we're not attracted to each other. There's something there."

Katara squirms uncomfortably. Mai decides not to reveal the she slept with Zuko.

"Before we got Zuko and Azula and Ty Lee out, when we slept together, all I could think about was that if I died, I'd die happy that night," Katara says earnestly and Mai smiles faintly.

"The feeling was pretty mutual," Mai replies, her small smile not fading. Katara stares at her lips and contemplates kissing them.

"I'm worried we're going to die. I _would _die, if I had to. I wouldn't even mind it," Katara says and Mai sits up slightly straighter. Clearly she has said something to offend Mai.

"I'm not letting you die. Even if I wind up dead. Katara, people _need _you. You have an entire family, a brother, a grandmother, a father. Zuko. Korra. Even Azula and Ty Lee need you. I don't have anyone left I care about. Don't talk about dying like it would be so easy for you," Mai says with a vivacity Katara did not know she had.

"I can't be a mother to them if I'm a monster," Katara whispers hoarsely and Mai wishes Katara would just reveal this Hama thing that haunts her.

"And, Katara," Mai says softly, ignoring Katara's self-loathing. "I need you too."

They hesitantly press their lips against each other. The kiss is passionate in the night and it feels to Katara like a perfect crescendo of music, reaching its apex. Mai's hand slips behind her back and she slips one leg over Katara's waist.

It is heated but not instantly sexual. She just feels Mai's fingers digging into her and her lips touching Katara's as if the kisses are breathing and if she did not have them, she would suffocate. Katara feels warm, overly warm, and wet. Mai's hand is behind her neck, holding them together, their bodies pressed against each other.

But every motion, every fumbling touch makes Katara only want more.

They are together until the next watch begins, of Azula and Zuko.

That night, Katara has nightmares of a great power than she ever has before. She can see the bounty hunter's blood thinning in front of her. Pouring from small wounds in a display more violent than human puppets. And when she wakes up, she can still see it.

"Waterbending lesson!" demands Korra as soon as Katara gently wakes her.

She gets so excited at bending, mostly because she is so naturally gifted at it. Katara sees Aang in her just barely sometimes. They are different in so many ways, but when she is training her she feels a connection to the dead Avatar.

"Alright. Come on; there's a stream nearby," Katara says softly, plucking up Korra in her arms. The child _likes _being carried by the exhausted allies.

Katara walks to the water and Korra sits down on the bank, toying with waves already. Katara moves to form octopus tentacles and feels nothing move. The water does not stir remotely. It is weird and strange to Katara as she tries for a basic wave. Nothing. Not even a ripple.

Her heart flutters into her throat. _No, no, no_.

The worst nightmare she has ever faced is her bending disappearing. It is her everything. But now she cannot even make bubbles or ripples in the water. Korra looks at her in utter confusion, her head cocked to the side. Katara tries and tries in more frantic attempts, trying to make her bending work.

But it doesn't.

It is gone.

She bites back tears.

* * *

><p><strong>Katara's Story<strong>

Katara is dragged to a new prison unconscious. She has vivid visions in her sleep of being taken to the Boiling Rock. All she can see is the lightning colliding with Zuko instead of her. And then glimpses of the fight. Azula was erratic but Katara made a mistake.

And there went the world. She wonders, as she gazes at the ceiling of a prison cart, what would have happened if she and Zuko had beaten Azula. Aang would be dead. Maybe she would somehow reunite with Sokka and Toph and Suki.

In this world, she heals Zuko. She does not know what happens to Azula, but she no longer imagines it as a brutal death. It is funny in the end that the princess and her two terrible friends became Katara's greatest allies, and three of those closest to her.

In this world, maybe she goes home to the South Pole. Or maybe she goes to help the army in Ba Sing Se. They could use her. She could heal soldiers and help plan attacks. Ozai would presumably return to the Fire Nation with Azula defeated. He would try to win, but he would do even less damage than her.

The world would be better off if Katara had defeated Azula. But she did not.

And now she is being carried by soldiers. She is barely conscious. The thirst is painful but kept under control by meticulous bookkeeping. If the Fire Nation is good at anything, it is enslavement and subjugation. She supposes it must have been a developed trait.

Her dizzied thoughts turn to what the Fire Nation would be like if Sozin had never attacked. If there was no such thing as a comet that made firebenders infinitely strong. Even if she never met Aang, he would be alive. That would be good enough for her.

"She's not even lucid," interrupts Katara's stream of thoughts. They are filled with airbenders constructed from images of those living at the Northern Air Temple, with hints of Aang and what she knows of real airbenders. Statues mostly.

"Does it matter?" the guard clutching Katara replies. "She's just going to be locked up until she dies."

"I like them to know that they're here," the male voice says. Katara squints in the direction and only sees the hazy image of a man in red and black. "To see who belongs to me now."

Katara knows she is in for trouble, somehow in some way. But right now she is far too dizzy and distant to be able to tell.

She is dragged to something very different from her cell in Capitol Prison. It is a cage. It basically amounts to a cage and nothing more than that. She glances around, trying to take in her surroundings. It is dark and the other cages are silent, despite having inhabitants.

Katara is relieved that she recognizes none of them. But they must be waterbenders like her. The Northern Tribe has been working with General Iroh. The North Pole is not invincible, Katara realizes with a sick feeling in her stomach.

She is kept in her cell for the first few days and looks for escape. But she cannot find one, and she does not know where she would go if she did escape. She simply allows herself to be imprisoned. It feels like it quenches the spirit within her, but she is not defeated yet.

Just unsure what to do next.

The first night she is taken out of her room is three nights before the full moon. She is dragged by a man she did not know the name of, towards his office. He must be someone in charge of the prison, or close to it. Katara tears water from the plant in his office and turns it into blades of ice. She grazes his cheek before he jams the dart into her neck. Next time, she decides, she will be more prepared.

The second night she is taken out of her room is one night after the full moon. Katara punches him square in the mouth when he tries to throw her down. She breaks his nose and he breaks her wrist in response.

The third night she is taken out of her room, she gives up. Her wrist aches and dehydration is her only thought. And so she bends to his will, only wishing she could bend her way out of the situation.

She belongs to _no one_, but he says that she belongs to him. But Katara does not have hope left. Her friends are most certainly dead, and hers is just a slower death. Maybe that is all there is for Katara; a slow, slow death.

An eternity into Katara's imprisonment, "Did you hear about Prince Zuko?" one guard says as he unlocks the chains on Katara's wrists.

"What about him?" the other guard asks casually, cocking an eyebrow.

"He's in the palace until his execution. My friend is a guard at Capitol Prison. Looking for a promotion to here, of course."

"A traitor doesn't deserve that," spits the other guard, looking enraged at the information.

"No, he doesn't. The prisoner they brought in the same day as him got taken there too, but she was some kind of gift for Former Fire Lord Azula," the guard says and Katara's ears perk further.

Zuko and Ty Lee are in the palace. With Mai. And Azula.

Katara's heart starts to race. She knows what she needs to do. She _has _to escape before Zuko is executed. And if she can just get to the palace, she might be able to help them. They might be able to get to Ba Sing Se.

Tonight is the full moon. Tonight is the full moon and Katara is taking slow, deep breaths.

She knows how this is going to go. She knows she is sacrificing herself to escape, but it is the only way she knows.

If it worked for Hama, it should work for her.

Katara waits with bated breath, examining her surroundings. The same guard who spread the gossip about Zuko is walking, swinging keys around two of his fingers. Katara finds it tempting but also terrifying. She stands slowly and he does not notice. And with motions that are too familiar for her liking, she seizes control of him.

He screams out but no one hears him. Katara drags him to the side of the cage and drops him in a heap on the floor after she takes the key directly from her hand. He still is in utter shock, staring at the ceiling and quavering as Katara reaches around and unlocks her cell. She jumps down and feels the impact on her legs.

She is dizzy as she walks through the dimly lit halls.

The only thought in her mind is that she wants to hurt anyone who has ever laid a finger on her. She could easily walk right out of the exit and make her way back to the Capitol. But instead she walks towards the offices. She slams the guards against the walls and can hear their bones crack.

She pushes open the door, and finds him standing there, blissfully unaware of what is happening. He glances at her and opens his mouth to speak but she seizes him with trained hands.

"What... what are you...?" There are tears in his words as she forces him to kneel, his limbs bending in strange directions.

"You should never have touched me," Katara says fiercely, her cobalt eyes sparkling with a vicious rage. "You fucked up."

And, before she even knows what she is doing, she tears him apart limb from limb.

It is grotesque and her face splatters with blood. It tastes metallic and smells worse, but she turns from the murder and forces her way out of the prison. She unlocks the cell of every person who is still imprisoned, one by one. And bloodstained Katara liberates every waterbender held here.

The full moon is still in the sky when she walks out onto the street. The starlight is blinding, even in the dark, smoggy night. It is a long walk, but she can see the Caldera in the distance. It is a landmark that is nearly impossible to miss.

Her friends are there and they need her. And she will _never _turn her back on people who need her.

She starts walking, hobbling along the road. A woman stops her carriage and offers Katara a ride. She tenderly cleans the blood and Katara makes up some lie that the woman believes. And Katara slowly is taken back to the Capitol.

Finding Mai is the dilemma. It might involve breaking into the palace. And she has no clue where Zuko's room would be, or how to get his attention. So she walks towards the palace, possibly walking directly to her death. But it does not matter anymore.

Katara has become everything she despises and now she must rise up above that. Now she must save her friends and save the world. It must be, it must be.

"Do you need help?" a servant asks Katara.

"I'm looking for..." Katara trails off. She has no idea who she could trust. "I need to see Mai."

The servant studies Katara closely. Katara swallows and hopes with all of her heart that this will not become a trap. The servant gestures for Katara to follow her, and Katara looks at the beautiful palace. The marks the Fire Nation leaves in its wake are repulsive, an insult to culture. But this palace gives the Fire Nation a culture, and a rich one at that.

And Katara is finally led to a bedroom. The servant knocks on the door and steps back. Katara could wind up face to face with an executioner or Fire Lord Ozai himself. But Mai answers. And Mai slowly crumbles. She is on her knees, on the verge of tears. And then she catches her breath and pushes herself to her feet, as Katara stands breathlessly.

Mai grabs her and kisses her and Katara holds her close. Katara smells of blood and filth; Mai smells of expensive perfume and remnants of incense. They linger together before Mai starts walking, taking Katara with her.

"It's not safe for you here," Mai says, guiding Katara out of the palace. "I'm taking you to this apartment my dad used to use to fuck his multitude of mistresses. It's probably decrepit by now, but no one will look for you there."

And so Katara is free for the first time in a long time. Truly free. She can feel it powerfully in her pulse as her heart comes to life again. She belongs to no one and it fills her with unfathomable power, but also a small amount of fear. Power is a slippery slope, and she could fall hard.

But when she lies down in the bed Mai makes for her, and attempts to eat the food Mai tries to give her, Katara is haunted by images of Hama. She comes to her mind with ferocity and Katara thinks of how she did not just escape, she hurt the man who hurt her. But how many steps is that away from hurting innocent people because of association to the Fire Nation?

It is the first night that she whispers, "_I am not Hama... I am not Hama... I am not Hama..."_

Again and again.

But her whispering and chanting never works.

She is Hama.

"We have to rescue Korra," Mai says the next morning as she walks into the apartment that Katara is becoming acquainted with.

"Where is she?" Katara asks as Mai opens a bag of groceries and hands Katara a drink and a sealed bowl of soup. Mai walks to the kitchen and rummages for silverware as Katara waits for her answer with bated breath.

"I'm not entirely sure. She's at the same school as my brother, though. I imagine we can abduct her if we try," Mai says with a small shrug. Katara breathes a sigh of relief as Mai hands her a spoon. Katara sits down, slumped, and screws the lid off of her soup.

"What about Zuko? I heard he was going to be executed," Katara says after several mouthfuls of soup and several moments of Mai looking glassy eyed and distant.

"We have time. He was only released to the palace yesterday. Apparently his dinner didn't go well with Ozai, but we have time for him. Katara, we're all getting out of here. I swear to you that we are," Mai says with a stunning conviction. Katara nods.

Mai brushes her fingertip along her own clavicle and Katara sees traces of a fresh burn. Katara feels queasy as she tries to eat more, but all she can see is that Mai is suffering too. And whatever she is doing to try to save them is something that Katara cannot fathom.

But she does not ask. Katara does not ask as she finishes eating and her lips brush against Mai's. Katara does not ask as Mai slides her hand behind Katara's back, resting against her spine and pressing their hips against each other.

They want to wash away what has been done to them, that much is obvious. As their tongues intertwine and they fumble through the apartment, Mai tries to forget him. Katara does too. They fall, clinging and clawing and kissing onto the sofa, Mai on her back.

"You're crying," Mai murmurs as a kiss breaks. Katara's hand is in her shirt, a cold hand against Mai's feverish pallid skin.

"It's nothing," Katara whispers in Mai's ear. Mai lingers for a moment as Katara kisses her breast.

They are never going to be the same.

Never again.

* * *

><p><em>Katara walks through the woods. She recognizes them as the ones outside of Hama's town; she can see the mountain, fuzzy and ahead of her. Running, running. All around her she sees corpses and she is ankle deep in blood. She can smell it and feel it, hot and metallic against her dark skin.<em>

_ She keeps running as the blood rises around her body. She is swimming and flailing, her eyes blossoming with tears as she reaches the mountain. She clings to it as the blood flows like it has burst from the body of a giant and holds on, gasping and keeping her head above the stream._

_ A hand reaches out to help her and Katara takes it. When she rises from the sea of blood, the woman helping her up is instantly recognizable._

_ "Congratulations, Katara, you're a bloodbender."_

Katara wakes up gasping for breath. Only a dream. Only a dream.

The trouble with Katara's bending has become increasingly more distressing. She does not know how it came on, or how it came on so strong, or if it is an aftereffect of the poisons in the Fire Nation.

She wakes up early in their small camp and attempts to bend the water she starts broiling so everyone has something to drink when they wake up. But there is nothing. Not even her misdirected and untrained bending from her youth. She would have settled for that.

Katara feels like this simply adds insult to injury. But she starts the water broiling with a rub of sticks and a few carefully timed blows on a wooden bowl of flame and disappears into the woods to go check the snares. The forest is quiet and serene, but Katara is a mess inside. Everything feels so loud to her as she looks for any food they might have caught.

Her bending is stripped from her. She tries constantly, endlessly to conjure any water. But it is entirely futile and it is killing her inside. First she has an outburst of bloodbending, and then she becomes incapable of even stirring the water in the pot. It makes her nightmares increasingly worse and worse. She wakes up kicking and fighting invisible enemies who are closing in on her as she is defenseless. Zuko shakes her awake almost every night, telling her she is going to hurt herself or him.

And now she can only feel cold. Or maybe too hot. Something along those lines. Her temperature is just wrong.

"Are you okay?" comes a voice behind her and she nearly cuts her finger on the snare she is examining. It's Mai.

"How did you find me?" Katara asks breathlessly, finding the snare empty and sitting down on a fallen tree. It is damp under her clothes, but she no longer cares. Water is a traitor in her mind.

"I helped you set up the traps, remember?" Mai cocks an eyebrow and Katara simply shrugs. "Why can't you bend?"

"You think I haven't been asking myself that?" Katara snarls and Mai recoils slightly.

"I'm sure it's just some mental block that's going to fade," Mai offers and Katara is less optimistic. Mai sits down on the leaves, shivering at how gross it is and how many _bugs _are probably in it, but she clasps her hands on her lap and tries to help Katara.

"It's more than that. I just have nothing now," Katara murmurs, looking bitterly wounded. Mai does not know how to deal with this situation, but no one else is trying.

"If it helps, I've never been able to bend," Mai offers and it does nothing for Katara. "You were talking to Zuko last night about it happening to him?"

"This is different. I haven't lost my drive and my bending is _gone_. Poof. Disappeared."

"I'd say you've kind of lost your purpose. You never really fought with all that anger. And then there was the insane bloodbending thing..." Mai suggests but Katara is not open to it. "You're terrified of what you did to those bounty hunters. If you could just find some way to get over it─"

"Find some _way to get over it_?" Katara exclaims, causing several birds to evacuate the trees." Get over it? My life might as well be over! Nothing good has happened to me in two years! The nightmares never end! My bending is gone! I don't understand what I did to deserve this!"

Mai cringes uncomfortably. She does not know what to say to Katara, what words could console her. She only knows that her nightmares never end either. And that she feels like she was stabbed by a life she trusted.

"Please hold on, Katara. We need you so much. You think we could hold together without you? Doubtful," Mai says softly and Katara simply shakes her head.

The conversation ends there.

Many miles away from the chilly forest where Mai tries to console Katara, Ozai is rubbing his temples.

"So, there's a divide? Soldiers of _mine _are loyal to _her_?" Ozai demands of the man carrying correspondence from the Earth Kingdom.

"Yes. It's hard to tell who to trust anymore. A lot of soldiers haven't taken kindly to the change of management. And with Pr─Former Princess Azula in the Earth Kingdom, they've gotten some false hope of her coming back into power." The man is sweating profusely. It even drips from his beard.

"That better stay as false hope," is all Ozai says.

Azula is proving to be far more trouble than she is worth.

And he is quickly losing ground in the Earth Kingdom because of her.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm going back to posting twice a week. I don't think there's enough time for everyone to read the new chapter when it's so fast. I feel bad that these few chapters are only 4k words each, but as bad as I feel, I'd rather everybody get to read the new chapter.


	21. Friendship Bracelets

Chapter Twenty-One: Friendship Bracelets

* * *

><p>Ty Lee wakes to the sound of Zuko screaming. Mai leaps to her feet, kicking Ty Lee in the ear as she bursts through the tent. Ty Lee winces, her eyes fluttering as she tries to register what is happening around her. Azula slowly, groggily sits up as the howling in pain of her brother does not cease.<p>

As Ty Lee walks outside, she sees Zuko with a bleeding back, his shirt torn off and in his bloodied hand. Katara is trembling with panic as she realizes she cannot heal him. Her heart races as she stares at the motionless water and bursts into tears. Mai runs to them both and sets her hand on Katara's back, all the while gazing at Zuko in terror.

"What happened?" Mai demands vivaciously as Ty Lee grabs Korra and tries to distract her. The child has seen enough without witnessing this.

"Soldiers. The next town might as well be a fortress," Zuko chokes. "I'm fine. I really am. Not all of it is my blood."

"They saw us?" Azula exclaims, kneeling beside her brother. She has no care for his wounds; they are not life threatening and the sound and sight of those in pain has never bothered Azula. "They know we're here?"

"They'll come for us." Zuko breathes in through his teeth, wincing. He looks about to cry but fighting back the tears. "I got in a skirmish. They recognized me. They might have followed me but I had to warn you guys. I had to."

"Thank you, Zuko," Katara says feebly, speaking as Azula's mouth opens. "It's going to be okay. I... I can't heal you... but..."

"Korra can," Mai says abruptly and Ty Lee scowls. She was doing a good job of distracting the little girl.

"She doesn't need to see this," Ty Lee snaps but Korra is tugging at Ty Lee.

"Katara's teaching me," Korra squeals and she runs to show off. Zuko is laughing faintly, despite the pain as Korra carefully lifts the water. Katara's eyes are streaming with tears that she does not bother to control as Korra looks to her waterbending master for instruction.

Katara helps Korra, although it wounds her soul to do it. The wounds are minor, thankfully for both Zuko and Korra. But Azula is having none of it and Ty Lee can tell Azula is about to burst.

"We have to assault the town before they assault us," Azula says sharply, standing up with vivacity. Mai sighs as Zuko's wounds start to knit back together.

"I'm with Azula on this. How many soldiers were there?" Mai says, averting her eyes from Zuko's body.

"Sixty or seventy," Zuko says earnestly and Katara's eyes flash. Not good.

"We're competent enough. At least competent enough to dole out enough damage to keep them from burning down the forest," Azula says fiercely. Katara agrees, despite her lack of bending. Zuko is less certain.

"We need to liberate the town," Katara says and Azula grimaces.

"Not what I was going for," the princess mumbles, but no one is listening.

"We'll liberate the town then." Mai is surprisingly firm in her opinion. And no one argues.

As soon as Zuko is healed and his back and hands cleaned from blood, the group meets over what they should do.

"Katara, you protect Korra," Mai orders.

"Without bending?" Katara shakes her head slowly.

"Just hold her. Zuko and I will stay at your sides. But you hold onto her, okay?" Mai orders and everyone is startled at her taking so much initiative. "Azula, you can head the assault, you're good at crowd clearing. Ty Lee, you stick with Azula, okay?"

Ty Lee's fingers twitch towards Azula's when she is told to stick with her.

She is not losing her. Ever.

* * *

><p><strong>Ty Lee's Story<strong>

Upon Ty Lee's arrival after the executions, Azula tells her that her day begins the same way every morning. She wakes up. Throws up. The tears do not force themselves from her eyes like they once did, and no longer does she murmur for her father to help her. She would be far more likely to curse him for doing this to her. It becomes increasingly more difficult as her muscles are reduced to bones and any comfortable position for vomiting is rendered obsolete by her baby bump.

As Azula lies in bed crippled by the nausea that never leaves her, despite hurling her up half of her internal organs ─ or so it feels like ─ she now has someone pacing back and forth. When she wakes up and vomits she has someone rubbing gentle circles on her back and holding her hair and helping her clean her face and lips and mouth.

Azula never liked being cared for. Not once, mostly because her mother abandoned her and she took it upon herself to _only _care for herself and not allow anyone else to. But Ty Lee is forgivable to her, because she needs someone on her side when everyone and everything has betrayed her.

"It was an act of betrayal," Ty Lee says as Azula tries to sleep but is plagued by the fact that her vengeance has taken upon itself to wake up every time she wants to drift off. "The worst act of betrayal. You're not a traitor, he is. And everybody sees it."

Azula does not need to be reassured, but Ty Lee says it for both of their benefit. She thinks they could both use some reassurance in a world that is ruled by Ozai's iron fist. They both have given up at this point, but Ty Lee tries to put a positive spin on things for fear of Azula spiraling into a descent.

It has been one month since Azula traded her supporters for Ty Lee. Since they have been playing house in a prison with invisible bars. But it feels like it has been years. A _thousand _years to Ty Lee. Maybe it is shorter to Azula; Ty Lee never discusses time.

"It's moving," Azula murmurs, and Ty Lee thinks she is talking to herself, but she cannot help but overhear.

Ty Lee does not know how to react. She does not want to be overly excited, because that upsets Azula. But she does not want to react negatively either, because that also upsets Azula. Ty Lee finds the baby to be an incredible mess, and she knows it will be used against them.

But she also takes responsibility for her promise. Before Ty Lee knew everything, before she wound up in the Fire Nation again as a prisoner, she promised she would treat Azula's baby as hers. And so help her, she will.

"Good or bad?" Ty Lee finally asks. Azula's opinion will be easier to agree with than trying to formulate her own and hoping it goes over well.

"I don't know anymore," Azula sighs, pulling the expensive ruby blankets further over herself. "I really don't."

"So, I was thinking about baby names," Ty Lee attempts, finally gathering the courage to mention it. "Because I really don't want to name _our _baby 'vengeance', as much as you keep calling it that."

"What's wrong with vengeance?" Azula is snickering.

"It is a _terrible _name, Azula. Okay, Mai."

"No. We are not naming our child after anybody alive. What if they betray us or something? It's stupid."

"Alright, fine, that ruins about half of them. Asami?"

"Peasant name."

"Kazai?"

"Sounds too much like my father."

"Meiyo?"

"Too Earth Kingdom."

"Rei?"

"Peasant name." Pause. "Why are these all girl names?"

"I'm hoping for a daughter, okay?" Ty Lee laughs.

"Well, we're at serious odds then, because I'm hoping for a son."

"Alright, you can name it if it's a boy, and I'll name it if it's a girl."

"Deal. Although, I did promise Katara I would name it Zue."

"Ugh. Bleck. That's terrible." Ty Lee sticks her tongue out in disgust.

"But it's a little Water Tribe and a little Fire Nation. It pays homage to part of my vengeance's heritage."

"That's cute. You consider the Water Tribe part of you, don't you?" Ty Lee pokes Azula, sniggering.

"Yes. They've done more for me than my own family ever has," Azula says earnestly and Ty Lee is surprised. She did not expect such a passionate answer from Azula, who is becoming more jaded, sarcastic and snide as days pass.

"I really like Kazai. Or Azusami. It'll be one of those two if it's a girl whether you like it or not."

"Can't you just name her Azula II? There, perfect name for a perfect little girl." Azula's lip twists into a small smile.

"You said _deal_. Now you come up with some boy names," Ty Lee orders and Azula sighs, not bothering to argue.

"Ugh. That sounds like a lot of work. Can't I just name him Sozin and be done with it?"

"It's your choice. It will only reflect on you and your dynasty for the rest of time," Ty Lee replies in a sing-song tone.

"This is difficult." Azula closes her eyes and realizes she is no longer distracted. Her vengeance is still stirring as if in distaste of all of the names. "I don't think I can sleep."

"I can't either. We did sleep almost all day."

"There's not much else to do. We _are_ prisoners," Azula sighs, toying with her hair. She studies the shadows in her room, trying to distinguish every object obscured by night. "This is certainly inhumane. He can't just lock us up in here with nothing to do all day."

"What would you like to do?" Ty Lee asks, cocking an eyebrow.

"Hm. I mean, toys, evidently, we need. Maybe some arts and crafts. We can make a dollhouse out of household objects like we used to when we were children."

"And friendship bracelets!"

"Definitely friendship bracelets. I'll put in a requisition at once." Pause. "_Actually_, there are lots of useless things in here with thread..."

Azula gets up and Ty Lee's heart races. She was doing her best to distract the princess and now Azula has leapt up. She could start hyperventilating any minute and then what would Ty Lee do. But Azula simply lights the three lamps in the room and opens a drawer, withdrawing three shirts in different shades of red.

"What are you doing?" Ty Lee asks, sitting up on her knees.

"We're going to make friendship bracelets," Azula replies with a small smirk.

She makes quick work of the clothing, tearing it down to threads with a combination of fire, fingernails and meticulous navigation. Ty Lee leaps out of bed and helps Azula sit down, both of them beneath the window with laps of thread.

"This is the most interesting thing that has happened all month," Ty Lee says, grinning. Azula nods and starts twisting the thread.

They have about ten times as many friendship bracelets as they have friends by the time the sun comes up. The lamps are burning low, almost out of oil, and Ty Lee is simply grateful that Azula is distracted. The less busy Azula is, the more scared Ty Lee gets.

"This one is for Zuko. It's a little bit deformed. It'll fit in with him," Azula declares, setting aside a lumpy bracelet that got snagged on her nail.

Ty Lee giggles.

"They're going to come rescue us and we'll be able to reward them with friendship bracelets. It's wonderful," Ty Lee says, still shaking with laughter.

"We've gone completely insane, haven't we?" Azula asks, now laughing as well. "Look at us. We're sitting on the floor of my room covered in friendship bracelets."

"We could be covered in worse things," Ty Lee says and Azula nods in assent. They both burst out laughing for a few more moments before it slows.

They have gone flat fucking crazy. But it was only a matter of time, locked up without being able to leave, only brought food once a day. Occupying themselves has become a lot of ridiculous conversations and games that they make up on the fly.

Ty Lee often feels regret that she and Azula are playing while Zuko and Katara are imprisoned and possibly dead, but they do not have it easy either. She worries constantly and can only keep it together by the games and conversations.

All she and Azula have left are each other. Mai has disappeared. She used to visit. Fire Lord Ozai has not checked on them personally since the second night of Ty Lee's stay. They see no one but each other. One would imagine they would _loathe _each other by the end of it, but Ty Lee thinks they have only fallen more in love.

Days pass like years.

"I couldn't sleep last night." It's a game. Ty Lee initiates it with those words.

"Why?" Azula asks, playing with balls of blue fire that illuminate the room in swirling shadows and light.

"Because you were being chased by animals. They were released and they were all dangerous," Ty Lee says slowly, the words true but phrased like the game is structured. "And I couldn't stop them because you were surrounded by fire."

"I couldn't sleep last night either," Azula replies, though her voice cracks slightly.

"Why?" Ty Lee asks, rubbing her toes on the silky blankets.

"Because you were drowning. We were on the ice and you dropped your necklace and the ice cracked around you and you drowned," Azula says, her voice reflecting her hollow sensations.

"I couldn't sleep last night either," Ty Lee continues, though she is slowly breaking down.

"Why?" Azula asks, although she does not want to play anymore.

"Because you could go away at any minute," Ty Lee murmurs. It is not a story, not an image, not how the game is meant to be played. "And the thought of living without you revolts and terrifies me."

"I'm not going anywhere," Azula says softly, although she is not sure if she believes it.

"Oh come on, even you're not that good of a liar. We're dangerous together. He's going to tear us apart as soon as he can afford to." Ty Lee is crying and Azula does not know what to say. She simply sits there and feels her vengeance stir as if it mocks her.

"I will _never _let him do that," Azula snarls, surprised at her own vehemence.

"As if you're in control," Ty Lee sobs and Azula's lips open and close but no sound comes out. "We're just shoved aside for now until he can deal with us."

Silence. There are no games that can heal the wound that just opened.

"You can name our baby. I'm not doing a very good job at the boy names," Azula says softly, walking to the bed and sitting down beside Ty Lee.

It is the first time she has referred to her baby as _theirs _or a _baby_. Ty Lee tries to be cheered by that but all she can think about is the impending doom. It should not be _doom _to her, even if it is likely Ozai would kill her if he could. She should not feel so strongly about just one person, but Azula is all she has, and not just in their mad, mad, mad little birdcage.

"I can't pretend to be happy anymore," Ty Lee chokes through sobs and Azula does not know what to say. She simply sits there weakly.

"It's going to work out. We're going to go to Ba Sing Se and─"

"You can't genuinely _believe _that, Azula!" Ty Lee shrieks and Azula recoils. "We're going to die here. Or at least I am."

Azula touches Ty Lee's arm and says nothing more. She leans forward and presses her lips against those of her fiancée.

"When you're Fire Lady, you're going to laugh about that time we made fifty friendship bracelets and all the ridiculous games we played," Azula whispers and Ty Lee does not protest. She knows that Azula is doing the best she can, and that is more than Azula ever would have done in the past.

The next day, Azula is torn from Ty Lee. She is escorted out by soldiers and Ty Lee flies into an anxiety attack, gasping, heart fluttering. She makes friendship bracelets. She undoes the ones she already made and makes more of them as Azula is gone and Ty Lee wonders if she is ever coming back.

When Azula returns, she is shaken and in worse shape than Ty Lee. The acrobat abandons her crafts and pulls Azula into her arms. They lie down, Ty Lee holding Azula as she bites back tears and gasps for breath.

"Where did they take you?" Ty Lee asks, stroking Azula's neck. Azula does not respond at first.

"Make me feel better," Azula orders fiercely as Ty Lee holds her trembling body.

"Uh, okay," Ty Lee murmurs, swallowing. "What color do you want to paint the dining room of our lakehouse?"

"Our what?" She is slipping fast.

"The house we're clearly going to build by that lake in the Earth Kingdom. I want the dining room to look out over the lake with big windows. I'm not budging on that whether you like it or not. I mean, once you restore balance to the world, we could have such great Earth Kingdom vacations as Fire Lord and Fire Lady. But I don't know what color I'd paint it," Ty Lee says, trying to keep her voice as soothing as possible but feeling about ready to burst.

"Hm." Azula takes a deep breath. "Well, what color is the kitchen?"

"Yellow."

"Ew. Yellow? Really, Ty Lee?" Azula asks snidely and Ty Lee tries to laugh, but just makes a coughing sound.

"Nice yellow. Like the sun."

"Alright, I think orange. Like the sunrise. We could go for a whole _sun _theme. It would be airy, I think. I'm not really that informed about home decorating. As you can see, my room has been the same since I was a baby," Azula says, gesturing at the dim bedroom.

"Accents of gold, I think. I saw these curtains a few years ago in this shop and they would be _perfect_," Ty Lee says in the cheeriest tone she can manage.

"You really think you can find them again?" Azula drifts away towards her agony once more.

"I think as Fire Lord you are _going _to find them for me," Ty Lee states fiercely and Azula smirks. She is reeled back in and Ty Lee can breathe.

"You are such a tyrant," Azula says with a small laugh. "People are going to fear you." Pause. "That's a good thing. I don't want some wimp of a wife."

Azula relaxes slightly in Ty Lee's hands and she breathes a sigh of relief. Better. It's better. Better for now, Ty Lee hopes.

"You're burned," Ty Lee whispers, feeling guilty she only just notices the marks on Azula's neck.

"I'm a firebender; they'll heal fast," Azula murmurs, shaking her head slowly. Ty Lee's stomach turns to stone but she says nothing.

Ty Lee thinks at this moment that if Azula does not succeed at killing Ozai, Ty Lee will be forced to do it in her stead. And she will love every second of it.

Life goes on. Days pass like years. Azula and Ty Lee play games.

Then Ozai demands Azula's presence at what he declares to be a special dinner with Zuko.

Ty Lee clings onto Azula's hand until she is forced out of the room.

_No_.

* * *

><p>The alliance ascends on the town with fervor. Their things are packed and with them in case of a necessary escape. Katara protects Korra with a blade that Zuko taught her how to use over the course of a few days in the other hand. Mai has arrows drawn already and Ty Lee has her fists clenched. Azula has a look in her eyes that could kill and Zuko is twitching with a slight nervousness.<p>

When they reach the town, they realize that it is more of a city. Some of the buildings are old and made of wood and rock, clearly from the original town. But more buildings are constructed from steel, jutting up. Mines are in the near distance, and it seems to have been fortified and built on by the Fire Nation likely due to being rich in coal or other metals.

There are a few pedestrians in the street garbed in green, but the rest of the roads are flooded with soldiers. Far too many for the town, despite its significantly large size. It is the biggest city Azula has seen that is not major and equipped with a palace, like New Ozai City.

"How do we take them on?" Mai murmurs, toying with small arrows in her hands. They watch from a small hill, looking at the blackened ground and grey buildings as far as the eye can see around. It is far more than they anticipated having to fight.

"Let's just run at them," Azula says and her companions are startled by her lack of a detailed plan. "We just need to strike."

And they obey. The attack starts with the watchtowers. Azula lighting them ablaze with lightning from both hands, striking two places at once with a loud crash. As the soldiers pour from the towers, Katara slashes a few and uses a variety of evasive maneuvers, Mai slits throats, Ty Lee keeps them at a distance and Zuko takes two down at a time.

Their life force has returned after imprisonment as they run towards the center of the town, on a high from the fight. Ty Lee realizes that Azula is going for the mayor or governor, whoever is in charge. It will end the fight before it truly begins as Katara, Zuko and Mai take on the soldiers, picking them off at a rapid pace.

Azula makes it to her destination with her companions close behind. She clears her way with powerful whirlwinds of cerulean as she kicks down the door of the only expensive house in the town. Clearly the man or woman who is in charge of the miniature mining city is lurking inside.

She passes two cowering children and ignores them as she advances through the house. Delicate decorations of the Fire Nation mainland adorn the walls and shelves. Azula finds the man and takes him down as he conjures a single spark of fire.

Azula has him in one hand as she walks to the center of the town. On a bulletin in the middle are wanted posters and information. Her face stares at her from one of the sketches and she tears it from the board, burning it to crisps of paper.

"You stay here," Azula orders the mayor as a crowd is gathering. Katara lowers her bloodied sword, simply holding Korra. Ty Lee and Mai glance around, ready to strike as Zuko is catching his breath.

Azula walks towards the soldiers who are gathered with hesitant weapons.

"Bow," Azula demands, to the confusion of her friends. The soldiers simply stand. "Do you even know who I am? You should recognize me. I was formerly Fire Lord. Formerly Fire Lord Azula. So when I say bow, you bow."

Her tone even makes Katara's stomach turn to jelly. The soldiers bow, slowly, hesitantly, looking nervous as if someone will strike them down for obeying her. She glances at the people of the town, who look terrified.

And Azula walks towards the burning buildings, plucking Korra from Katara's arm. Katara does not even move to fight, stunned and even more exhausted from having to fight without her bending. Ty Lee watches with anxiety inside of her, knowing Azula is only going to get herself hurt.

Azula stands before the groveling soldiers and glances with contempt at the mayor.

"I've come to liberate this town from the grasp of the Usurper, Ozai," Azula says. And before Ty Lee can shield her eyes, the mayor falls dead from lightning to the back of the neck.

Azula glances at her audience.

"I'd like to say a few words."

* * *

><p>AN: Originally, Zuko and Korra came before Ty Lee and Azula, but I switched up the order for pacing reasons. I needed a burst of plot/action and some extra Tyzula because Zuko and Korra's are a little slower. So next chapter is Azula, then Zuko and then finishing with Korra, even though I feel Korra makes more sense coming directly after Katara, but the order could have gone several ways. I just chose the one I felt would be most interesting plotwise.

Also, I don't know if Katara fighting without her bending worked. But I kind of wanted to give her the confidence boost of knowing she could still fight without it. I mean, Katara is tough and trained in combat other than just waterbending; she would have to be with all she's been through. I worry it would feel out of nowhere or impossible, but I wanted to have her not feel totally useless. I hope that wasn't bad.


	22. They Used to Shout My Name

Chapter Twenty-Two: They Used to Shout My Name, Now They Whisper It

* * *

><p>Azula clutches Korra in her arms as she stands amongst the slowly dying flames. Her lip is curled slightly in a snarl as she looks out at the people of the town. They are all attentive and terrified. She feeds off of it for a moment as she feels a rush of the power that was stolen from her by her father.<p>

"You." Azula points at a soldier with her free hand. His eyes bulge to the point they nearly pop. "Get paper and ink and a pen. I need you to write a letter for me."

The soldier runs into the barracks behind him and returns faster than Azula thought he would. The ink is staining his fingers as he looks for somewhere to sit in a panic and decides on the cobblestone ground.

"I want you to transcribe this for my father," Azula orders regally and the soldier she chose nods. Ty Lee wonders if she should stop Azula, but she finds herself incapable of moving. "Let me tell you something about Fire Lord Ozai. He never earned the crown. He had his father killed to take the throne from his brother, who now is your-_our _greatest ally against the regime of the Fire Nation."

The crowd seems stunned. Katara had no idea of this information, no one but Zuko did.

Azula continues, "He stole the throne from me. And he banished me, as he banished my brother to keep him out of the way. He fears losing his power. But he is a man who cannot handle power. I used to think that the Fire Nation was the greatest thing to happen to this world. That the war was an enlightenment of the barbaric nations."

Pause. Breathless. Katara is about to cry.

"I was wrong, or at least, misled. I've resigned from my desire to rule an empire where the sun never sets. Any army still loyal to me is no longer going to fight and oppress the way my father oppressed me and tortured my family and friends. He is not the true leader of the Fire Nation. Maybe you don't believe me. This isn't easy to swallow when all you can see is the girl who brought down the walls of Ba Sing Se and helped conquer the world during Sozin's Comet."

But no one agrees. Not a single person assents, as Azula expected them to. Maybe the wanted posters have already settled in.

"I've resigned from my desire to rule an empire where the sun never sets. It's all of you who I'm marching with now, not the machine of conquest. But the people I never bothered to see as more than numbers on paper. So, let my father the usurper know that I will stop at nothing to bring him down, and restore balance. I thought, over a year ago, that I needed to avenge my father and kill the Avatar. But I'm going to avenge the death of the Avatar by prying the fingers of Fire Lord Ozai from the Earth Kingdom."

Pause. Azula examines the crowd for a sign that they will attack. But they are listening.

"I'm holding in my arms the Avatar. And I will protect her at all costs. I owe the Avatar that much. She symbolizes the chance that you will be broken from oppression. I will shatter the chains myself if I have to. If it's the death of me. I promise you that." Azula glances at the flames around her, caused by she and Zuko and the soldiers. "If my father tries to burn you; I swear to you that I will make him burn with us."

She finishes to utter silence. Tears roll down Katara's cheeks as the crowd is broken out in goosebumps. Her conviction, the pauses at the perfect times, the passion behind her words. It moved people. At least four hundred people are gathered, watching the young woman who subjected them confess that she is on their side.

Ty Lee worries for a moment that Azula will be attacked. But no one does.

"No one is going to hurt any of you again," Azula says softly, finishing her speech more weakly than she would like to. "Mail this speech to my father at once."

Applause. Thunderous applause like Azula has never heard outside of her well trained subjects in Caldera. It makes her shiver.

Azula slips out of the spotlight.

* * *

><p><strong>Azula's Story<strong>

The morning after the dinner with Zuko, Azula wakes up and immediately is vomiting. A hand is on her back, Ty Lee right there. The closeness is both welcome and unwelcome and Azula does not know how to describe it.

She sits up slowly and washes her mouth, Ty Lee watching, sitting on the rim of the bathtub. Azula runs her fingers through her hair and tries to console herself.

"I don't understand why any woman would willingly do this to herself," Azula murmurs, examining herself in the mirror. She realizes how awful she looks; Zuko was not lying or exaggerating.

Azula glances at Ty Lee and sees that she looks almost like a corpse of herself as well, and it haunts Azula. Her bones ache as she walks to her bed and lies down. Being bedridden most days has been taking a toll on her psychologically and physically. She feels powerless both mentally and physically as her body and strength are consumed by her vengeance and her father has her pinned down and broken.

Ty Lee leaves the bathroom hesitantly and sits down beside Azula. She examines her closely, wordlessly. There is no game this morning, nothing to distract either of them.

"Zuko thinks he can get us out of here?" is all Ty Lee asks, touching Azula's shoulder gently. She is almost afraid she will break Azula if she touches her too forcefully.

"Yes," Azula murmurs and they are in silence for a moment.

"I couldn't sleep last night," Ty Lee begins and Azula almost laughs. "Because a dragon stole you from me and I couldn't defeat it."

"I couldn't sleep last night," Azula replies in the same rhythmic tone. "Because you were hanging from a cliff and I couldn't hold you anymore."

"I couldn't sleep last night because I loved you so fucking much."

They kiss each other fiercely.

The next day, Azula is woken by pounding on the door. She untangles her limbs from Ty Lee and takes a deep breath to try to quell her nausea. Opening the door, she reveals two soldiers of the royal guard.

"Fire Lord Ozai requests your presence," one says, and she can see his eyes are nervous.

"Tell him to go fuck himself," Azula replies as she glances at the slowly waking form of her fiancée. Abject horror in the eyes of the royal guard. "Well, tell him if he needs me so badly, he can come get me himself."

And she slams the door in their faces. Ty Lee winces as Azula walks back towards the bed, hesitates and walks into the bathroom with much greater speed and purpose.

"We're going to pay for that," Ty Lee murmurs before getting up and kneeling beside Azula. She cannot believe Azula's confrontation, when Ty Lee has expressed endlessly that they need to play along with Ozai if they want to survive.

And once Azula has brushed her teeth, she runs a bath as Ty Lee makes the bed. Routines that were boring have become a certain security, a known in a world of unknowns. The door erupts again with knocking and Azula walks to open it.

Her face makes Ty Lee drop the pillow she is putting in a new case. Azula takes several steps back wordlessly as Ozai walks in and shuts the door behind him. Ty Lee notices just how small Azula looks compared to her, and she sits down on the bed as quietly as possible trying to make herself small.

"Did they actually tell you to go fuck yourself?" Azula finally asks and Ty Lee cringes. Ozai does not laugh, as his daughter is.

"Why don't you cooperate? I spent my morning dealing with Zuko's lack of cooperation, and I could expect far better from you," Ozai says and Azula squirms slightly. She does not like this at all. "You, circus girl, go turn off the bath."

Ty Lee rises instantly and hurries to do as he says, although she feels sick at leaving Azula with him even momentarily. She feels out of place as she walks back in and finds Ozai sitting in a chair across from Azula, who is on her bed with one hand resting on the baby bump. Azula feels a significant loss of power as she sees her father does not look ill at Azula's hand there, and it makes her concerned.

She wanted him to behave predictably. But of course he wouldn't. _Of course_.

"I wanted to talk to you about _this_," Ozai says, and Azula sees his eyes fall on her abdomen. She wraps her loose shirt further around herself, although she is unsure why she does. "I want to talk about what happens when it decides it's time to come out."

"I know how babies are born," Azula says and Ty Lee cringes. The princess is repulsed by how scared Ty Lee is of Ozai, but, then again, she understands why she is.

"It's something inevitable that we need to discuss," Ozai says and Azula supposes she must comply. He is not giving her much of a choice. "You're nine months pregnant, neither of us can ignore this."

Azula shrugs in response and Ozai ignores his frustration. She does it to anger him but he cannot play her games. He has more important things to be concerned about than his daughter's rage and loathing. If she grows to hate him, he cannot control it.

"What happens when you claim her as an heir?" Azula asks before Ozai can delve into the specifics of the imminent birth. He blinks at her once and decides he can answer her.

"Then you get lucky. It's fortunate for you that I'm willing to claim a child like this. It is solely because I admit my mistake, and I am an honorable man," Ozai says and Azula stands up. She shakes slightly and Ty Lee catches her arm, helping her balance.

"_You're _an honorable man?" Azula snarls and Ozai's golden eyes flash, abruptly molten. "_Zuko _has more honor in his little finger than you have in your entire body. You're far from an honorable man when you're discussing the child you impregnated your own daughter with."

Ozai stands and Ty Lee pulls Azula closer to her, as if she can protect her. But Ozai does not strike as he simply steps back, rethinking what he would do. He is trying to play Azula into being at his side again, to being loyal to him once more. It will make everything significantly easier for him.

"We'll discuss this tomorrow. _Alone_," Ozai says, glancing at Ty Lee with a brief disgust. Azula twists two fingers together, ready to light them, but Ozai is gone.

He had much more to say, but he does not think he could resist inflicting pain on Azula if he stayed. And he needs her on his side, as difficult as that will be.

Azula and Ty Lee lie in bed together, Ty Lee's hand resting on the bump within which her baby resides. It is _hers _and she tells Azula time and time again. It _almost _washes away the bitter taste that the materials that made the baby came from the same man who made her. How it disturbs her, and Ty Lee understands that Azula is right to be disturbed.

"I want you to know that I love you, and I will love our child," Ty Lee whispers, words she has told Azula a thousand times before, but also words she never wants to stop telling her.

"I know. If he doesn't execute you as soon as she's born," Azula whispers and Ty Lee smiles faintly at the movement of the baby she has yet to come up with a name for. Azula touches her hand to her abdomen and tries to feel happy about feeling it, but instead it makes her heart palpitate and her throat gag.

"But, Ty Lee," Azula murmurs, studying her love closely. "I will never leave you. And I will never let him kill you. I will _murder _him before he touches you."

Ty Lee smiles faintly as she leans against Azula. She knows that they will be ripped apart if Zuko does not do something quickly to help them escape. But for now she has Azula, she has their games, and she can make it another day.

Just another day. Just another day. That is what she tells herself over and over and over again.

Two weeks later, Azula is called to Ozai. She can only feel frustrated as he forces her to sit in his room and listen to him drone on. His plans for the birth of the child, his plans for after the birth of the child, and what he will do with her once he has secured his power over her.

Azula does not protest. She wishes she could strike him with her barbed tongue. But she nods as he tells her that he will make her a puppet again. She allows him to claim her and it kills her to do it. Her vengeance stirs inside of her and she starts to gasp.

Ozai stops talking, looking at her closely. Something inside of him jolts as Azula hyperventilates and sinks to her knees, her heart spiraling out of control. She feels as if she is suffocating and Ozai moves to her, sliding one hand behind her back.

"What is it?" he asks, touching her face.

"It's moving," Azula murmurs in a choked voice. It terrifies her, her vengeance terrifies her and now her father can see it. Now he can win and that simply makes her gasp more. "I need you to distract me. Please, father... I am your _loyal daughter_."

His first instinct is to strike her for conjuring images of Zuko, but he does not want her to slip away. He can see her madness grow in intensity as the fetus ages and the days pass. And he supposes he must take some form of responsibility.

"Do you remember Ember Island when you were a little girl?" Ozai asks and Azula nods. She looks at him with confused golden eyes and Ozai feels a connection to her that he genuinely thought was lost.

"I do," she murmurs, gasping after her words. She cannot control her breathing in her anxiety attack.

Ozai tells her of it. He tells her a story and she feels weak for a moment because he reminds her that he was not always a monstrous father. It almost makes her hatred unfounded if she could not feel his baby kicking inside of her and to _know _that he is a true villain. A man who has hurt her and hurt her friends and family.

"I don't want you to be hurt, Azula," Ozai says and she wishes she could believe him.

"Well," Azula breathes as her panic attack has subsided, "I want to strangle you to death."

Ozai's eyes flash and he removes himself from her. Grabbing her arm, he pulls her to her feet and sets her on the bed. His lip is twisted in a snarl and Azula loves it. She hates him and she loves it and all she wants is to make him hurt. To watch him burn and feel the pain she has had.

When she strangles him, she will give him her pain. She does not want it anymore.

She does not want her sixteen years of pain. They should be his instead.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Ozai says although they both know perfectly well it is a lie.

His lips touch hers and she fights the urge to bite. She simply waits for the kiss to be over and resents herself for it. He pulls away and orders her back to her room with Ty Lee.

Two days later, Azula goes into labor. Ty Lee grabs her by the arm as she touches the water coursing down her legs and gasps. The acrobat does it all as Azula lies down, blinking several times too fast. She does not know how this could be happening to her, but it was bound to happen.

She is in pain, but she has felt worse. Her eyes blossom with tears but she bites them back with force. She is surrounded by doctors and her father as her vision is fuzzy. The weakness from refusing food and refusing keeping up her health is making it so she thinks she will pass out.

"Take her away," Ozai orders as Azula grabs Ty Lee's hand. Her fiancee is ripped from her by the arms of soldiers, screaming and fighting.

Azula reaches out for her and screams and spits in the faces of the people who try to tear Ty Lee away. But she is gone to be subjected to whatever Ozai wants to do with her. Azula sobs now as doctors try to figure out things she does not understand.

Her baby claws at her, desperate to escape.

And her father holds onto her as if he cares.

Azula blacks out as soon as she hears the crying of her daughter.

* * *

><p>"I can't sleep. I can't believe you did that. We're so screwed," Ty Lee murmurs, alone in her tent with Azula. The princess is wide awake as well, but her thoughts are filled with the thrill of how angry her father will be when he realizes the true extent of her power.<p>

"I'll help you sleep," Azula murmurs, still on a vivid high from liberating the town. Outside Mai is with Katara, trying to help her with her bending. Zuko is watching Korra in the other tent, and Azula and Ty Lee are alone, together, united.

"You'll help me sleep? How about going back in time and _not _doing something so risky," Ty Lee says shrilly and Azula only smirks. Ty Lee has to admit she _likes _Azula being pleased for once, but she still feels concerned.

Azula leans forward and rubs the back of Ty Lee's neck, pressing their lips together. Ty Lee melts with her motions. Azula lightly kisses under Ty Lee's ear, causing the acrobat to gasp. She touches her tongue to Ty Lee's neck, briefly, a small motion that sends a tingling through Ty Lee's toned body.

Their hands and fingertips explore each other's skin, as if anew, always as if anew. Azula caresses Ty Lee's left breast, the motion more than wanted on the acrobat's part. She wants _more _from Azula, despite her fear. Her palpitation of her fearful heart is instead replaced with palpitation of her lustful heart.

Lips hooked together, Azula clings with a breathless passion. Ty Lee is briefly unsure what to do with her hands as she feels Azula and hopes she will never lose her. But for now they are united and nothing can pry them apart. Azula takes Ty Lee's idle hand and presses it against her freshly exposed breast, forcing her to massage it. Both of them like it; both of their faces flush faintly pink.

Ty Lee's hand begins to travel down Azula's concave stomach, feeling the gradually returning muscles from where a baby once lurked. She feels jolted from the sex for a moment, remembering their imprisonment together. And then she remembers how much she craved Azula and her passion is reignited.

Slipping off Azula's underwear, she sets her hand on her inner thigh and Azula moans. Ty Lee slips two fingers inside of Azula, causing her to gasp. The motions Azula once disliked, once was too reminded of penetration by them. But when she looks at Ty Lee's eyes, her face, her lips, the one person she feels comfortable doing this with, it feels like ecstasy.

Azula moans, bucks against her, comes. Perfect. She moves to Ty Lee, to reciprocate, and she does, albeit without the thrusts of her hands, because Ty Lee and Azula learned the hard way that that was a road to pain and not pleasure.

When it is finished, the afterglow lingers on them. Ty Lee hooks herself to Azula and finally falls asleep, guiding the princess's hand to stroke her hair as she sleeps. And as she falls asleep, she thinks about how she cannot lose Azula.

She will not. Her fear about Azula's speech lingers, but she dreams happy dreams for the first time in a long time.

Ozai reads Azula's speech in a fit of rage, alongside the reports that any attempts to reclaim the nameless, sprawling mining town have been met by resistance tenfold of whatever he sends. The soldiers he sends to claim the town are defeated and never return.

"She has the Avatar?" Ozai demands of Admiral Maboro, who simply shrugs. The admiral's skin is slightly green as he sees flames rage around the throne. "And she has the support of half my army."

"What do you propose we do, your highness?" Admiral Maboro bows deeper. He seems terrified.

"I want you to bring me my daughter and the Avatar. Kill the rest," Ozai orders and Maboro nods. He slowly stands and moves to gather forces.

Those loyal to Fire Lord Ozai now will directly take on Princess Azula and her Avatar.

Ozai studies the speech closely. Her claims of his theft of the throne he will have to somehow discredit. He must discredit her as he hears more and more reports that soldiers along the way to Ba Sing Se bow to a new leader now. Towns freed, towns going dark and silent from Ozai's watch.

And the Avatar. He had no idea Azula had the Avatar.

He thinks for the first time that he may lose the war against his children.

Azula has a fire in her that would make people follow her to their deaths. Ozai lacks that. She is the one enemy he never wanted, and her friends are as much trouble as she is.

So now it begins. The war has just gone up several notches, from a handful of Earth Kingdom insurgents and Iroh's attempts, to a traitor uniting both Fire Nation soldiers and Earth Kingdom peasants for her cause.

Ozai retires early, unable to focus on anything but his panic.

The throne is slipping out of his grasp.

Iroh is startled by the news that crosses his desk. First, he had the news that Zuko and Azula were torn from history and replaced by some child that Ozai has claimed. One Iroh knows little of but is trying to learn more about. He has not mourned his niece and nephew yet, under the hope that Ozai could not kill his own children.

His father, perhaps. Iroh, he could kill. But not Zuko. Not _Azula_. Iroh likes to imagine that his brother has a shred of humanity left in him.

"The Fire Nation Army is turning on itself," Piandao says, handing Iroh the hefty stack of papers.

"Why?" Iroh asks, confused.

"Azula," is Piandao's only response. He sees Iroh's surprise and realizes he must elaborate. "Azula liberated a town. She has the Avatar and Zuko, and apparently three others. She made the message very clear that she is going to uproot Ozai, and he's scared."

"She liberated an _Earth Kingdom _town?" Iroh asks, more baffled by that than his niece rising against her father for power.

"She demanded that the Fire Nation end hostilities against the other nations, or they would suffer once she took the throne," Piandao continues and Iroh sits down, struggling to breathe for a moment. "I don't know her game, but she's telling the world she wants to end the war."

"And Zuko is with her?" Iroh asks before feeling a small wash of guilt that he cares more about his nephew.

"Yes. They're working together with their friends," Piandao explains and Iroh can barely comprehend.

"I suppose this is good. What direction are they going in?" Iroh asks slowly, looking at the stacks of papers.

"Towards us."


End file.
